By By EDWIN MODLIN II
edwin@wdnweb.com
Staff Writer
For some members of the Washington Raquet Club, being in their 80’s is nothing to keep them from making it to the courts on a regular basis.
Jack Pyburn and a group of his friends get together three days a week to play tennis at the Washington Raquet Club.
“We started off playing twice a week, but then made it to three days a week,” Pyburn said. “Of course, we haven’t been able to get out as often as we’d like to lately because of the weather.”
Pyburn plays tennis with his friends, Bob Diefendorf, Dr. Frank Stallings, Peggy Hudson and Bill Greiwe.
“It’s fun to do and it’s such good exercise,” Pyburn said.
One thing that is so great about these four men is that every single one of them are veterans. Pyburn is the oldest of the bunch, but youngest at heart, and served in the Navy during World War II, enlisting at the age of 17.
“It was just something I wanted to do,” he said. “We were in the middle of a World War and to me, it was just the right thing to do, to enlist.”
Pyburn, 84, was born in Mexico when his father was working there. After the Navy, he went to college at New Mexcio State University, earning an engineering degree and worked as an engineer and Human Resources manager for Texas Gulf.
Diefendorf, who is the second youngest of the group, just turned 80. He’s a native of South Dakota and served in the Army before moving to Washington several years ago and worked as a banker for many years.
Hudson, the baby of them all at 70, said her husband fought in Vietnam as well. As these “guys and doll” of the Washington Raquet Club spend quality time together playing tennis and talking about everything and anything one can imagine, they make sure to have fun.
“And they are perfect gentlemen and always keep it clean around me,” Hudson said with a laugh.
Hudson didn’t start playing tennis until she was 47. And now the guys ask her to play and fill in for others when they can’t play. But they always include her whenever they head to the courts and switch off so everyone can play.
“They’re a good group of guys, and they are good,” Hudson said. “You wouldn’t think it by looking at them, but they are good.”
In fact, they play tennis so well that one might get them mixed up with some energetic teenagers playing for a National Championship.
“We’ve just been playing together for several years. And yes, we really are that good,” Greiwe said with light-humored laughter.
Greiwe, who’s 80, was born and raised in Tacoma, Wash., and was a lifelong career Naval officer and a Naval aviator. He flew over 200 combat missions, flying all sorts of aircraft, but mainly the F-14 Tomcat fighter jet. He retired as a Navy Captain.
Greiwe joked that the Navy and Air Force flyboys were said to always be golfing. However, he said, there wasn’t enough room on the ships for them to tote around their golf clubs, so they carried their tennis rackets on board.
Besides playing tennis, Greiwe also volunteers twice a week at Beaufort County Regional Medical Center.
Stallings, who’s 82 and a retired pediatrician, said they’ve been playing together for a while and will continue to play for as long as they can. An example of his dedication came when he took a nasty spill on the court and skinned up both of his knees. He got right back up and kept on playing.
“We used to have about 10 of us our age,” he said. “But as we get older, they either move away to be with relatives, or they, well, they die.”
Stallings has been a member of the Washington Raquet Club since it opened 30 years ago and he added no matter what, he and the guys, and “doll,” will continue to keep playing.
Dale Peele, owner and operator of the Washington Raquet Club, said she loves to have them play at the club, as their level of play is simply fascinating.
“They’re here a few times a week and they are just so good,” she said. “I’m really impressed with them.”
Just as any tennis player warms up, they don’t keep score. However, when these guys get going, they knew exactly who had what and who had nothing. As “love” in tennis means “zero,” just remember, love means nothing to a tennis player.