IN MEMORY OF ROBERT "BOB" LOVE

By Mary Ann Bowles

The badminton community was saddened to learn of the death of Robert "Bob" Love of Memphis, Tennessee, on July 29, 1998. Love, 74, a prominent Southern Badminton Champion, died of heart failure.

Bob Love, a former President and Director of the Southern Badminton Association, was a regional and national champion. A World War II Army medic and POW, he was a graduate of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. He was a retired Vice-President of John T. Everett Corporation.

Love began his badminton career after watching his mother play at the Hotel Devoy in Memphis. He and his brother, Bill, both became active badminton competitors in Memphis. Following World War II, badminton prospered in the Memphis Parks system, and Bob began to win regional titles. By the time the club moved to Memphis State University in the early 1950’s, Bob had become a well-known doubles and mixed doubles champion in the Southern region.

Love was a talented competitor, winning 40 Southern Badminton Association titles in his career, 22 of those in Mixed Doubles. He partnered Virginia Anderson of Memphis to 13 Open Mixed Doubles titles from 1952 to 1970, and the team won 8 Veterans Mixed Doubles titles. In 1977, he won the Veterans Mixed Doubles title with Pauline Bean of Memphis. He and partner Earl Pate won Open Men’s Doubles in 1952 and 1953, and Love and Wally Dichtel won the same event in 1961. Love/Pate took Veterans Men’s Doubles in 1963 and 1964, and he teamed with Dichtel in 1971 and 1973 to win Veterans Men’s Doubles. From 1975 to 1990, Love won Master Men’s Doubles 7 times, most frequently with fellow Southerner Taylor Caffery of New Orleans. He also took the Open Men’s Singles title in 1954, and won Grand Master Men’s Singles in 1985 and 1986.

On the national scene, Love and Virginia Anderson won the Senior Mixed Doubles title in 1965, and he garnered the Grand Master Men’s Doubles title with Jack Harvey of Spokane in 1985. He was a supporting member of the American Badminton Association, the US Badminton Association, and USA Badminton. Love served as President of the Southern Badminton Association in 1992-93, and was a Director of the Southern Association for over 30 years.

Virginia Anderson, his longtime partner, said, "Bob was a very good sport when he played, and he loved to win. He was devoted to badminton, and helped promote the sport throughout Memphis whenever he could." Longtime member of the Memphis Badminton Club, W.T. McDaniel offered, "Bob was a top player in the South for many years—there was not a better player in the South in his time."

Love was a talented badminton champion, and enjoyed a good time both on and off the court. He will be missed by all who benefited from his passion for the sport.

Bob Love is survived by his wife, Patricia; two daughters, Christine Love of Carmel Valley, CA, and Julia McAfee of Memphis; a son, Dr. William L. Love of Jacksonville, Florida; a brother, Col. George W. Love of Phoenix; and five grandchildren.

Reprinted from Badminton News, the official newsletter of
USA Badminton, November 1998, Vol 8, No 7.