Mary Philpot

Bryce Alderton

Tennis is a way of life for Mary Philpot.

And the winners of the 4.0 mixed doubles competition in the first

Queen of Hearts Foundation’s Tux and Tennies Tennis Tournament at the

Newport Beach Tennis Club will receive the Earl Philpot trophy,

dedicated to Mary’s late husband.

Mary was named an honorary co-chair, along with famed former USC

tennis coach Dick Leach, for the event, a fund-raiser for ovarian

cancer research.

The two were warming up for a doubles event in the 2000 Adoption

Guild when Earl collapsed and died on the court from a heart attack.

They had been married 17 years.

“We were on the court at the Irvine Racquet Club and started

rallying before the game,” Philpot recalled. “He went back to pick up

a ball and collapsed.”

Having a trophy honoring Earl, who was 65 when he died, caught

Philpot off guard, but she relishes the memory it represents.

“Anything that keeps his memory out there is wonderful not only

for me, but for anyone else who knew him,” said Philpot, 72, a

Newport Beach resident. “He loved the game so much.”

Mary remembered a specific phrase Earl used to tell her when the

two were on the court.

“He would always say, ‘BFB,’ break follows break,” she said. “Earl

could play with people of all levels. Anybody who ever met Earl never

forgot him.”

The tournament kicked off Saturday with a reception at the Newport

Beach Tennis Club. Play continues today and concludes Saturday and

Sunday.

“I was thrilled when they asked me to do something like this,”

Philpot said about being named an honorary chair. She plays doubles

three to four times a week at Lindborg Racquet Club in Huntington

Beach.

“I wasn’t that familiar with it before, but it’s a good way to

raise money and tennis is so popular in Orange County,” she said.

Philpot will compete in the 4.0 women’s doubles competition with

partner Hannah Howes, also a Lindborg member. The tournament features

a novice level, open division, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and

mixed doubles, but no singles matches. Play will be held at county

tennis clubs with the semifinals and finals played at NBTC.

Philpot first began playing tennis when she attended Newport

Harbor High.

After graduating from Harbor in 1949, she then played at Orange

Coast College before moving on to the Immaculate Heart College in

Hollywood. She has a master’s in pupil personnel and spent 34 years

at Luzinger High in Lawndale, teaching business, science and physical

education. She also spent the final 20 years at Luzinger as a

counselor for four grade levels.

She lives alone and has a 13-year old Jack Russell terrier named

‘Jack Daniel.’ She is a 12-year member of an auxiliary group called,

‘Camelot,’ which supports the Orange County Performing Arts Center

and is on the board of the Orange Diocese Council of Catholic Women.

Her parents were Mae and Theodore Robins, founder of Theodore

Robins Ford, a car dealership which moved to its Harbor Boulevard

location in Costa Mesa in 1966 and has been there ever since.

Sports were a way of life for Philpot growing up. She played

volleyball, soccer and basketball, but developed an affinity for

tennis.

“I enjoyed the competition and it is a sport that doesn’t take too

many people to play,” she said. “You can stay with it forever, as

long as you don’t get hurt.”