Newport Beach’s father of tennis dies at 85

Richard Dunn

Charlie Eaton, one of the area’s true tennis pioneers and the

founder of the Adoption Guild Tennis Tournament in Newport Beach,

died of cancer Thursday morning. He was 85.

Eaton, who gave tennis lessons in the early years of the Balboa

Bay Club, started what has long been considered one of the oldest and

largest charity doubles tournaments in the United States.

Once awarded a proclamation by the city of Newport Beach for his

Adoption Guild efforts, Eaton has roots in Newport Beach that date

back to the 1940s and was thought of by some as Orange County’s

preeminent tennis figure.

“Charlie Eaton is the John Wooden of Orange County tennis,”

Palisades Tennis Club owner/operator Ken Stuart once said of the man

who opened the original Palisades Club in the 1960s. Stuart purchased

the former John Wayne Tennis Club in Newport Beach in August 1995 and

renamed it the Palisades Club in honor of Eaton.

Born in Olympia, Wash., and raised in Oregon, Eaton was a

University of Oregon tennis standout from 1935 to ’37. Eaton was a

newsman for the Star Bulletin in Hawaii before Pearl Harbor was

bombed, spent eight years in the National Guard and later held

reporting positions for the Santa Ana Register, including the police

beat.

But when opportunities came up in the tennis industry, Eaton moved

quickly and the Lido Isle resident was soon the owner of the Lakewood

Tennis Club in Long Beach.

Eaton, a member of the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame, was also a

teaching pro at Lido Isle Tennis Club during its heyday and later at

the Balboa Bay Club, when it was a tennis hotbed for the social

elite.

In 1959, Eaton was approached by Adoption Guild members about a

possible tennis tournament to raise funds, knowing how closely

connected Eaton was with BBC members and how friendly he was with

people in general.

So Eaton, Glenn Turnbull and the late Dorothy Yardley were part of

a three-pronged ministry to launch the Adoption Guild Tennis

Tournament, which has been hosted the last several years by the

Newport Beach Tennis Club.

“We used to fix the draw so all the good players would meet in the

finals,” Eaton once quipped with a laugh, recalling the days when

players like Bobby Riggs, Alex Olmedo and Roy Emerson would make

appearances.

In 1961, the Adoption Guild Tennis Tournament’s first year, there

were 65 doubles teams, no prize money, no tiebreaker system and a

player entry fee of $5. The BBC hosted the event throughout the

1960s, until the facility could no longer handle the overflow crowds.

“Charlie was considered the father of tennis in Newport Beach,”

said Susan Rinek, his stepdaughter.

Eaton, who had no children of his own but several nieces and

nephews, is survived by his companion of 35 years, Francis Hancock.

Services will be held Wednesday at 10 a.m. at St. Matthew’s Church

in Newport Beach (2300 Ford Road).