On February 8, 2004 the racquets fraternity lost a unique champion, and a terrific human being. Stanley W. Pearson, Jr., the only person ever to win the US Amateur championships in singles and doubles in both racquets and squash, died at the age of 86.

Pearsons school days at Chestnut Hill Academy and The Lawrenceville School were full of athletic triumphs particularly in squash and baseball, and were the harbinger of laurels to come. Pearsons father created the rich family racquets tradition at the Racquet Club of Philadelphia, a six time winner of that Club’s racquets singles championship and eight time winner in racquets doubles Stanley, Jr., followed in his fathers footsteps and won the Club singles for 10 consecutive years and the Club doubles 4 times, once with his brother C.B. Babe Pearson. His father reminded him how large those footsteps were when in 1949 Stanley, Jr. won his first US Amateur Squash Singles Championship, and Stanley, Sr. remarked now all you have to do is win it five more times. An interesting footnote to the many Pearson Club championship wins at the Racquet Club is that Stanley, Sr. won the Club racquets doubles championship from 1929-1932 with Ted Edwards and in 1949 Edwards won that championship with Stanley, Jr.

Pearson, Sr. also set the pace at the national level when he won the US Amateur Racquets Doubles Championship in 1932 with fellow Philadelphian W.C. Wright. In an era of first rate amateur players Stanley, Jr. continued in his fathers championship ways and won the US Amateur Racquets Singles crown in 1952, and won the US Amateur Racquets Doubles Championship in 1956 and 1957 with his brother Babe. Babe continued his familys winning ways when he again won the Racquets Doubles national crown in 1959 with the legendary CC Pell, Jr.; in the same year Babe also won the Canadian Amateur Singles Championship.

Inducted into the Athletic Halls of Fame at both Chestnut Hill Academy and The Lawrenceville School, Pearson also inducted into the National Intercollegiate Squash Racquets Hall of Fame in 1991. A superb athlete at Princeton, Pearson started all four years on the varsity baseball team. Pearson capped an outstanding collegiate baseball career with the distinction of scoring the tying run and then driving in the winning run in the first televised collegiate baseball game when on May 17, 1939 Princeton beat Columbia 2-1 in 10 innings.

A life member of The Philadelphia Club, The Ivy Club, Philadelphia Cricket Club and Sunnybrook Golf Club, Pearson was a keen amateur golfer whose ball striking was among the purest of club amateurs; and his skill and generosity of spirit made him a much sought partner, and a very tough opponent. He had a special gift which made him as difficult to dislike as he was to defeat.

To talk of his spectacular athletic success would only reveal a small part of this wonderful champions character. Stanley was self-effacing, personable and fiercely devoted to his family and the games he loved. In the early 1980’s when this author lead an initiative with legendary head professional Jimmy Dunn to resurrect racquets at the Racquet Club of Philadelphia, Stanley enthusiastically supported those efforts and appealed to recent members and veteran Philadelphia players like E. Newbold Smith and H.D.S. Boenning and his many friends from New York, Detroit, Boston and beyond.

Stanley was central to the planning and implementation of the 1989 US Open Racquets Singles and Doubles Championships. This event was a major focus of the Clubs centenary celebration and Stanley was actively involved in all stages of planning for that celebration including telephone conference calls to international supporters like William Stephens and Sir Mervyn Dunnington-Jefferson of The Queen’s Club in London and Denis Walsh from the Boston Tennis and Racquets Club. On Thursday, January 19, 1989 when the champagne laden busses pulled away from the Clubs 16th Street entrance, the tuxedo clad Stanley was on the first bus sharing stories of racquets weekends long past with a rapt and respectful audience which included former World Champions Willie Surtees and John Prenn. In fact, when we arrived at Harrahs Casino in Atlantic City for our stag dinner and speeches prior to games of chance, Stanley called Jamie Dodderidge and I aside and suggested that we have casino security usher us directly into our dining room or risk prematurely losing our entire audience to the gaming floor. Later, during that weekends dinner dance Stanley was again surrounded by more world champions, including Willie Boone, James Male and Neil Smith but interrupted those discussions to lead several of the young lovelies around the dance floor. That weekend in 1989 presented the best draw ever assembled on either side of the Atlantic and confirmed Philadelphias return to the North America and international racquets circuit. Stanley epitomized and reinforced the bonds of our special racquets fraternity with stories of his era which included his brother Babe and some of the best who ever played the game – C.C. Pell, Jr., Geoffrey Atkins, Ken Wagg, Robert Grant, III and W. Wood Prince.

To memorialize his many contributions to the game of racquets, in 1987 the Club instituted the S.W. Pearson, Jr. Cup, a championship for novice racquets players. The board listing its winners is located immediately outside the racquets court and is tangible proof that his contributions will continue.