Doris Donnelly Clark, a Claremont resident and tennis champion who was active and impressive on the court from her preteens to her 70s, died on April 21, 2009. She was 83.

It was Ms. Clark’s passion and flair for tennis that drew her to Claremont in the early 70s, when she and her husband, Stan Clark, founded the Claremont Tennis Club, now known as The Claremont Club.

She was born in Santa Monica on January 4, 1926 to Melvin L. Donnelly and his wife Mary E. Nollman Donnelly, both of whom were born in Grafton, North Dakota. Growing up during the Depression had some impact on her personality, said her son, Geoff Clark, but it certainly didn’t curtail her enthusiasm about seeing the world.

“It made her very conservative in some ways, yet she had an adventuresome soul for travel,” he said, noting that, in her 70s, his mother hiked around the Galapagos Islands and trekked through the Peruvian Andes and the ruins of Machu Picchu. “She was not one to sit home.

Growing up in Venice, California, Ms. Clark began playing tennis at the age of 12.  She quickly became a very good player and, by 13, won her first tournament. At age 15, she was ranked #1 in southern California in the “girls 15 and under” division. 

Ms. Clark earned a tennis scholarship to Flintridge Anokia School for girls, a private boarding high school located in Arcadia.  By the age of 18, she was ranked among the top 5 players in southern California.  In 1942, she and her sister, Marcheta, won the Southern California Junior Girls doubles championship.

In an era before women’s athletics, Ms. Clark began studies at the University of California, Los Angeles where there was no women’s tennis team—or any other women’s athletic teams—to play on.  According to her family, she remembered occasionally playing with some of the men on the men’s tennis team.

While at UCLA, Ms. Clark joined the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.

In 1947, Ms. Clark met and married Stanley D. Clark of Pasadena.  After living in Merced for a brief period, they settled in southern California, eventually living and raising their 3 sons in San Marino. 

From den mother to PTA member, from church activities to the tennis courts, Ms. Clark was constantly involved in the community.  For many years, she taught Sunday school and sang in the choir at the San Marino Community Church.  For her years of service in the PTA, she was awarded a lifetime membership in the organization.

Seeking to pass along her enthusiasm for tennis to younger generations, Ms. Clark was instrumental in starting an after school tennis program at Henry E. Huntington Junior High in San Marino and, later, started the first girls tennis team at San Marino High School.  She, along with her husband, was also instrumental in the development of the Tennis Center in Lacy Park—it took years, but finally San Marino had its own tennis facility.  

Ms. Clark was also past PEO president, a member of the Chapin chapter of the Orange County Performing Arts Center and a member of the LA Philharmonic.

It was in 1973 that Ms. Clark and her husband moved to Claremont and founded the Claremont Tennis Club (now The Claremont Club).  She was instrumental in the early years of the club, organizing events, playing hostess and enjoying many good games of tennis with the members.

After many years of playing, but not being able to compete, the senior tennis tournament circuit was started and Ms. Clark began competing again. She was a semi-finalist in the Women’s 55 Clay Court Championships in Houston, Texas and a finalist in the Women’s 55 National Grass Court Championships in 1984, both in singles.  She was a finalist again in the Women’s 60 National Hard Court singles championships in 1987, proving she was a very tough player on all surfaces—clay, grass and hard court.

Tough and competitive on the court, Ms. Clark was ever the elegant woman. Her friends, said her son, would describe her as “very much a lady.”

In addition to her myriad other tennis successes, Ms. Clark held 2 United States National Singles Championship titles: in 1993, she won the National Hard Court Women’s 65 Singles Championship in Newport Beach and successfully defended her title in 1994. 

Ms. Clark also competed on the international level. In 1988, she was a finalist in the International Women’s 60 Singles Championships, and she was selected by the USTA to play on the United States’ Senior Women’s team for international team competition in Bournemouth, England.  She was also a World Championship Women’s 70s Singles semi-finalist in 1997.

Mishaps and challenges sometimes accompanied Ms. Clark on her global tennis travels. For instance, a few years after tourism was permitted in China, Ms. Clark and her traveling companions received a military escort off their aircraft due to not having the proper documentation in hand. And, following their formal removal from the plane, her son explained, they were quarantined for a few days until the appropriate papers were secured and they could be on their way. Another time, a ruptured appendix led to emergency surgery and a longer visit to Africa than anticipated. 

Over many decades, Ms. Clark has played and/or competed in many countries around the world and on all continents that have tennis courts.

“As far as we know, there aren’t any tennis courts in the Antarctic, which is the only continent she hasn’t played on!” said her son, Geoff Clark.

In 1986, Ms. Clark relocated to Laguna Beach, returning to Claremont to be near family and friends in 2004. Most recently, she resided at Mt. San Antonio Gardens.

Ms. Clark is survived by her sister, Marcheta Steiskel; by her sons, Stanley D. Clark II and his wife, Caroline Clark, Kevin Clark and Geoff Clark; and by her 6 grandchildren, Sandra Blunkall, Alyson Clark, Danielle Clark, Timothy Clark, Whitney Clark and Amy Clark. She was predeceased by her younger sister, Elaine Kennedy.

In lieu of flowers, Ms. Clark expressed a wish that memorial contributions be made to the Mt. San Antonio Gardens scholarship fund.

A service celebrating Ms. Clark’s life will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday May 2, 2009 at the Claremont United Church of Christ, 233 W. Harrison Ave.  A reception at The Claremont Club will immediately follow.