Gloria Connors, Tennis Pro And Mother Of Jimmy Connors, 82
DGH
BELLEVILLE, Illnois (AP) Former tennis pro Gloria Connors, who coached
her son Jimmy Connors to grand slam championships and a No. 1 world
ranking, has died at age 82, the International Tennis Hall of Fame
announced Tuesday [January 9, 2007].
She died Monday [January 6, 2007] at her Belleville home, apparently of
natural causes, said Dale Kurrus, whose funeral home is handling the
wake.
"She had an unwavering passion for tennis," Jimmy Connors said in a
statement released by the Hall of Fame. "All my life, she taught me --
made me a world champion -- she always got me to do things without my
even realizing. She instilled passion, excitement and enthusiasm into
me that was contagious to everyone around me. And yet separately, she
was my mother and my friend."
Gloria Connors competed in the 1942 and 1943 U.S. Championships but is
more widely known for developing her son into a world-class player. She
was Jimmy Connors' only coach for much of his career.
Jimmy Connors won eight Grand Slam singles crowns, 130 titles and held
the No. 1 world ranking for 160 consecutive weeks. He was inducted into
the Hall of Fame in 1998.
AP
DGH
CORRECTION: She died Monday January 8, 2007, NOT January 6.
- - - -
GS
http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/state/16424735.htm
(includes photo)
Connors' mother dies at 82
Coached son to grand slam tennis championships
Staff and wire reports
BELLEVILLE - Former tennis pro Gloria F. Connors, who coached her son
Jimmy Connors to multiple grand slam championships and a No. 1 world
ranking, has died at the age of 82, the International Tennis Hall of Fame
announced Tuesday.
Gloria Connors died Monday at her Belleville home, apparently of
natural causes, said Dale Kurrus, whose funeral home is handling the wake.
Jimmy Connors said she died peacefully.
"She had an unwavering passion for tennis," he said in a statement
released by the Hall of Fame. "All my life, she taught me -- made me a world
champion -- she always got me to do things without my even realizing. She
instilled passion, excitement and enthusiasm into me that was contagious to
everyone around me. And yet separately, she was my mother and my friend."
Gloria Connors competed in the 1942 and 1943 U.S. Championships but is
widely known for developing her son into a world-class player. She was Jimmy
Connors' only coach for much of his career.
Jimmy Connors won eight Grand Slam singles crowns, 130 titles and held
the No. 1 world ranking for 160 consecutive weeks. He was inducted into the
Hall of Fame in 1998.
Gloria Connors, nee Thompson, was born Jan. 24, 1924, in East St.
Louis.
She was a member of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church and active with
The Poor Clares.
She was preceded in death by her husband, James J. Connors and her
parents, Albert L. and Bertha F. Thompson.
She is survived her two sons, Jimmy (Patti) Connors of Santa Barbara,
Calif., and Belleville and John Connors of Swansea, daughter-in-law, Lynn
Connors of Belleville, and grandchildren Brett and Aubree Connors of Santa
Barbara, Calif., and Carli, John and James Connors of Belleville.
Memorials may be made to The Poor Clares.
Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Kurrus Funeral Home in
Belleville.
A funeral procession will leave at 9:40 a.m. Friday from Kurrus
Funeral Home for a 10 a.m. Mass of Christian burial at Blessed Sacrament
Catholic Church in Belleville, with the Rev. Jack McEvilly officiating.
Burial will be in Mount Carmel Cemetery in Belleville.
GS
January 13, 2007
Gloria Connors, 82, Who Fueled Son's Tennis Drive, Is Dead
By RICHARD GOLDSTEIN
Gloria Connors, who forged the competitive fire and honed the skills that
made her son Jimmy Connors one of the greatest players in tennis history,
died Monday in Belleville, Ill. She was 82.
Her death was announced by the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Mrs. Connors competed in the United States national championships at Forest
Hills in 1942 and 1943. She also taught tennis, emphasizing strong ground
strokes.
Jimmy Connors, her No. 1 pupil, learned to play as a youngster on his family's
backyard tennis court in East St. Louis, Ill., where his mother routinely
overpowered him, hoping it would goad him into developing an aggressive
attitude.
"See, Jimmy, even your own mother will do that to you," she was quoted as
having said after slamming shots past him.
When Jimmy was a teenager, Mrs. Connors envisioned him as an elite player
and took him to Southern California for tutelage by Pancho Segura, the
renowned player and teacher. But she remained as his coach. "All my life she
taught me - made me a world champion," Connors said upon his mother's death.
Ken Flach, a leading doubles player of the 1980s, took lessons from Mrs.
Connors in St. Louis as a young player.
"I remember she used to sit on the baseline and watch me hit with Jimmy's
brother Johnny," Flach told The Kansas City Star in 1993. "She'd always be
barking orders at me. She was a really good player herself, very feisty,
very competitive."
But the former tennis star Chris Evert, Jimmy Connors's onetime fiancée,
told Sports Illustrated in 2004: "Gloria wasn't pushy when it came to
tennis, not like the fathers of some of the girls on the circuit nowadays.
She just wanted Jimmy to be happy. He put enough pressure on himself."
In addition to her sons Jimmy and John, Mrs. Connors is survived by five
grandchildren.
When Jimmy Connors, a winner of eight Grand Slam singles titles, was
inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame at Newport, R.I., in
1998, his mother was on hand. He told of his debt to her and to her own
mother, Bertha Thompson, whom he called Two-Mom and who also coached him in
childhood.
As Connors put it, "They allowed me to reach my dreams."
GS
(From Independent Online, South Africa)
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=6&click_id=30&art_id=iol1168408653883R131
Roddick pays tribute to Gloria Connors
Melbourne - Andy Roddick thinks Gloria Connors's legacy on his career will
endure long after her death.
Gloria Connors, who coached her son Jimmy Connors for most of his stellar
career, died at the age of 82 on Monday at her home in Belleville, Illinois.
The funeral service are scheduled for Friday.
Roddick never met Gloria, saying she was sick when Jimmy Connors first
became his coach mid last year, but felt she had an impact on his career.
Roddick said he doubts Connors, who won eight Grand Slam singles titles and
spent 160 consecutive weeks atop the world rankings, will join him at the
Australian Open starting on Monday.
'I've enjoyed her stories and her
second-hand opinions'
"There's something... a lot more important in his life right now than
worrying about getting down here, it's halfway around the world," Roddick
said on Wednesday after a 6-2, 6-3 win over Tommy Haas in an exhibition
tournament at Kooyong.
"I know she enjoyed when we started working together and watching the
matches and she would pass on her opinions to Jimmy, from all accounts,"
Roddick said. "I've enjoyed her stories and her
second-hand opinions about what I should be doing out there."
The techniques and attitudes he was picking up from Connors were strongly
shaped by Gloria, Roddick said.
"She made Jimmy into what he was, so basically the knowledge that Jimmy has
shared with me is pretty much just an extension of her," he said. "I know
Jimmy talked to her a lot and discussed my game a lot with her."
Roddick, the 2003 US Open champion, dropped out of the Top 10 in July after
a slow start to the year, but recovered to reach the US Open final and make
it back into the Top 10.
He said was prepared for the Australian Open, even if Connors could not make
it, and wanted to continue the momentum the pair had built late in 2006.
"We have put the work in together and I think we're on the same wavelength,"
he said.
"Regardless of what happens, he'll be watching the matches and we'll be
talking. Obviously I'd love to have him here... but his influence isn't
gone - he's still very much involved."
Connors announced in a statement that his mother died peacefully earlier
this week.
"She had an unwavering passion for tennis," he said in a statement released
by the Hall of Fame.
"All my life, she taught me - made me a world champion - she always got me
to do things without my even realising. She instilled passion, excitement
and enthusiasm into me that was contagious to everyone around me. And yet
separately, she was my mother and my friend." - Sapa-AP
