Induction Year: 2003

 

Jack Turpin (1931-2019) began playing tennis at age 12 and was a top Texas junior tennis player from 1944 to 1948, winning the Texas Sectionals Junior Championship four times. He went on to play at Rice Institute where he won a Southwest Conference title, was a semifinalist in the NCAA Championships and won the National Junior Indoor Doubles Championship.

 

After graduating from Rice and serving in the Navy, Turpin became active in developing tennis in public parks and schools. He was president of the Dallas Tennis Association (DTA) from 1958-1963 and was instrumental in getting the city to agree to build its first public tennis center at Samuell Grand Park. In 1965 he raised money for a Davis Cup match between the U.S. and Mexico to be played at the facility. The event was a huge success and cleared enough money for the DTA to buy equipment for its high school program. Turpin served on the Management Committee of the Texas Tennis Association from 1959–1965. They honored him with the W.T. Caswell Service Award in 1964.

 

Turpin co-founded the T Bar M Tennis Ranch in New Braunfels and the T Bar M Racquet Club in Dallas. He served on the board of directors of the Maureen Connolly Brinker Tennis Foundation. In 2004 the athletics department at Rice named their center court for Turpin. Southern Methodist University’s Turpin Tennis Stadium also bears his name.