Don Richardson, teacher

Don F. Richardson, 90, a former teacher and coach at the Haverford School and a champion tennis player, died of renal failure on Monday at his home in West Palm Beach, Fla.

His daughter Anita Archuleta said Mr. Richardson was born in Springfield, Mass. He graduated from Lansdowne High School in 1936, where he was captain of the football, basketball and tennis teams, and a member of the National Honor Society.

Mr. Richardson's interest in tennis came from his father, Jasper, a professional at the former Hilltop Tennis Courts in Upper Darby, said his daughter.

After playing on the basketball and tennis teams at what is now Drexel University, his daughter said, he transferred to Springfield College, where he played on the basketball, soccer and tennis teams, and graduated in 1943.

Just before entering Springfield, his daughter said, he won a tennis tournament in Bermuda in 1939. She said he later was a winning singles player at a New England intercollegiate tournament.

After receiving a medical discharge from the Army in 1944, Mr. Richardson taught at Valley Forge Military Academy.

Mr. Richardson was at the Haverford School between 1947 and 1983, a school spokeswoman said, where he taught mathematics, chaired the math department, and coached tennis teams.

A 1946 story in The Inquirer reported his appointment as tennis pro at the Philadelphia Country Club. It stated that he had previously coached the girls' tennis team at Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla.

The article also reported that after his military service, he had been a finalist for the Eastern States clay court title.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Professional Tennis Association in Houston said that Mr. Richardson was a member from 1953 to 1973 and that in 1964 and 1965 he was president of its Middle States Division.

His daughter recalled that he gave lessons for several years at the Idle Hour Tennis Club in Drexel Hill and that in the 1960s, he offered free tennis clinics at Swarthmore College.

Besides his daughter, he is survived by his wife of 63 years, Joyce; a son, Jack; another daughter, Annabelle Tiemann; a sister; and three grandchildren.

A memorial is planned for an undetermined date.