A Giant Passes

Dear Subscriber First Name,

Larry Turville of Dunnellon, Florida died on October 10 at the age of 70 after a long battle with cancer.

Giants tend to cast long shadows, and Larry Turville certainly did that. But it wasn’t just Larry’s 6’7” prepossessing on-court presence that loomed large, but also the indelible imprint that he left on the game of tennis. Having grown up in St Petersburg, FL in a family of tennis enthusiasts, it was probably somewhat inevitable that he would immerse himself in numerous facets of tennis. His father had been President of the US(L)TA in the Sixties, and a Davis Cup Captain in the early Seventies. His older brother Ed was a member of the US Junior Davis Cup Team, and a teammate of mine at Rice.

First, Larry was a player – the #1 junior in Florida and a two-time All American at Georgia Tech. Larry began playing the nascent professional tour after graduation, and personally experienced the difficulty of gaining access to the main ATP Tour. At the time, it was hard for young players to break in against the established stars. So, he and his buddy Armistead Neely took the initiative, co-founded the first satellite circuit, and ran it for the next five years. It was called the WATCH Circuit (World Association of Tennis Champion) and was the first one to offer ATP points. All satellite circuits that have followed hearken back to that beginning.

While playing the professional tour, he qualified for Wimbledon, the US Open, and the French Open. Upon retiring from the tour, he coached the Rice University Men’s Team for the next twenty years.

But Larry did not put his own tennis racquets in moth balls! At age 35, he began playing USTA age group tennis, and ended up establishing one of the most distinguished records in US senior tennis. In all, he won 22 National Singles Championships, and 24 National Doubles titles. In addition, he represented the USA on 11 occasions in the ITF World Team Championships, accumulated five World Doubles Championships, one World Singles Championship, and the #1 ITF World Ranking in the 60 & Over.

Meanwhile, Larry’s off-court involvements in our game kept him from gathering much moss. In a bit of a déjà vu, he was instrumental in the founding and running of the Florida Super Senior Grand Prix while chairing the USTA Florida Competition Committee. It was a bit reminiscent of the old WATCH Circuit, with prize money, points, and a Grand Prix, but organized for players 55 & Over. And we geezers love it! He was then asked to serve on the USTA Adult Competition Committee, which he did for four years.

And then, of course, there is the NSMTA. Along with Steve Duffel and Jerry Thomas, Larry was one of the first ones to actually do something about forming a men’s senior tennis organization that would parallel what the women had done forty years ago. I can say without exaggeration that Larry has been one of the most creative, energetic, and valuable members of our Board of Directors. We already feel the loss, and he’s barely gone. Our hearts go out to Kelli, who has been his rock of support throughout these extremely challenging times. At a personal level, his too-soon passing makes me want to better appreciate whatever time I have left.

NSMTA President,
Jimmy Parker

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