Regina’s Ramblings

Did you know. . . Marty Riessen?

Here’s a local “did you know” question. Did you know that Marty Riessen, the person that the tennis courts at Poolside Park are named for, was a tennis champion who ranked in the top 10 worldwide in the early 1970s?

Marty’s father was Clarence “Clare” Riessen, a 1928 graduate of Osmond High School. He was also on the 1928 Osmond basketball team which won the Class G state title.

Clare’s parents, Claus and Luella Riessen, homesteaded east of McLean before moving into Osmond where Claus operated a Buick and GMC agency for years.

After Clare graduated from OHS, he went on to graduate with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois, and with a masters degree in education from Northwestern. He was a coach and taught in Yuma, AZ, Hinsdale, IL, in the 1950s and at Northwestern from 1959 to 1975. He is a member of the Illinois Hall of Fame and is a member of the United States Collegiate Tennis Coaches Hall of Fame.

Clare coached tennis at Northwestern where two members of his team played Davis Cup tennis. So Clare, a young man from Osmond, NE, is pretty special, too.

Clare and wife Mim’s son, Marty, was an international player and coach, and captain of the U.S. Women’s Federation Cup, Wightman Cup and Olympic teams. Martina Navratilova, Bjorn Borg and Tracy Austin were among his pupils (I’m sure most of our older readers will recognize those names).

According to his Wikipedia page, he has played against some big-name tennis stars, such as Arthur Ashe and Jimmy Connors, and also played doubles with Ashe in the 1971 French Open and with Connors in Quebec WCT, Canada. Among his distinctions and honors listed on the page: He was a member of the U.S. Davis Cup team in 1963, 1965, 1967, 1973 and 1981; the Marty Riessen tennis courts are in Osmond, Nebraska; Dunlop named one of its wooden racquets the “Marty Riessen,” and he has been enshrined in the United States Tennis Association/ Midwest Hall of Fame. Marty Riessen retired in 1981.

In recognition of Marty’s accomplishments, his grandparents, Claus and Luella Riessen, donated 10 acres of land in southwest Osmond for the tennis courts on the south side of Poolside Park, and the courts were named after Marty.

For an interesting and funny anecdote about Marty Riessen, check out the paragraph about him in the “50 years ago” section of the Bygone Years this week.

Marty Riessen, one of the famous with roots in Osmond, Nebraska — do you know of any others? Let me know!