marilyn's obituary

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From the San Antonio Express-News, here is the obituary for my dad's cousin Marilyn, who passed away Sunday. I knew some of this about her, but by no means all.

Obituary: Rindfuss was top-ranked tennis player, longtime teacher
Web Posted: 02/09/2006 12:00 AM CST

by Carmina Danini
Express-News Staff Writer

A top tennis player, Marilyn Montgomery Rindfuss also coached the Trinity University women's tennis team in the mid-1970s, leading it to the United States Tennis Association Collegiate National Championship in 1976.

Rindfuss, 69, died of cancer Sunday.

She took over as women's tennis coach from John Newman, who coached the 1973 and 1975 teams.

"She was a very successful coach and a wonderful role model for the women players," said Shirley Rushing Poteet, who sponsored the teams from 1965 to 1974.

Rindfuss' tenure as coach didn't last long for one reason: She disliked having to pick one player over another for the top spot, said her husband, Jim Rindfuss, an Alamo Community College District trustee.

Rindfuss

"That was the part of coaching she didn't like," he said. "Marilyn knew how to rank them, but she hated it because she wanted to include everyone."

Born in Beeville and raised in San Antonio, Rindfuss did not take up tennis until she was a senior at Brackenridge High School. The only coach she ever had was James Moses, who gave her lessons after he finished driving his bus route.

At Trinity, from which she obtained a math degree in 1957, she was on the tennis team for three years and was one of its first players to be nationally rated.

After college, Rindfuss was ranked among the top 20 in women's singles from 1960 to 1963 and among the top 10 in doubles. In 1961, she was ranked No. 1 among Texas women. The following year, she won the National Hard Court women's doubles championship.

She received three invitations to play at Wimbledon but turned them down because of her fear of flying.

"The irony of the whole thing is that when she went to work for Harcourt (Education Measurement), she logged over 5 million flying miles," her husband said.

Except for 1964, when she was working on her master's degree at Louisiana State University, Rindfuss was the coach of the National Junior Wightman Cup team from 1961 to 1968.

She was a teacher for 31 years and a national math consultant.

In 1991, she was inducted into the Texas Tennis Hall of Fame. Last year, the squad she coached that took the championship was inducted into the Trinity University Athletic Hall of Fame.

She also leaves two sons, John Allen Rindfuss of San Antonio, and Bryan Clark Rindfuss of New York.

A memorial service is scheduled for 1 p.m. Feb. 24 at First Presbyterian Church at 404 N. Alamo St.

When my sister was suffering and frightened from colitis around 1968, at age 16, she went down to Texas where Marilyn's brother Johnny (a surgeon) could help and advise. Marilyn was a huge comfort to Martha during this trying and painful time, and they remained very fond of each other. Martha forwarded the obituary to me, and I just wanted to take this opportunity to mention this extraordinary relative who I didn't know nearly well enough.
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