One of our most distinguished alumni, Rita was a ‘top 20 tennis player who never cracked the top 10’. She played Wimbledon 16 times in all reaching the Round of 16 in 1959 & 1960. She also reached the Doubles Quarter Finals in 1964 and the Mixed Doubles Quarter Finals in 1957 & 1960. She continued playing Seniors Tennis until well into her 80s.
Rita was a keen member of the Association of Past Students and regularly sent in her yearly ‘news’. Her entry for 2015 records that in September 2014 she moved from her large bungalow to an apartment, a move that left her quite exhausted. She was subsequently diagnosed with a serious illness and spent much of the following year recovering. Having missed two APS weekends she announced “I intend to be with you all in 2016”. Unfortunately that was the last time we heard from Rita until recently, when her solicitor contacted the Association to inform us that Rita passed away in October 2016.
Here she is seen along with our President Barbara Graham at the APS weekend in Harrogate 2012