Marilyn Voges Brown
Marilyn Voges Brown, who taught generations of Chattanoogans how to play tennis, has died at Spanish Fort, Ala.
She was a well-known tennis player and beloved tennis teacher, having taught hundreds of children and adults for nearly 30 years at the Lookout Mountain Commons. She was also coach of the Girls Preparatory School Varsity Tennis Team for 14 years.
Mrs.
Brown was known for teaching solid strokes to everyone from ages 3 to 80. She also focused on sportsmanship and was passionate about court etiquette. She was featured in a Time magazine article in May 1959 entitled “Beauty at the Baseline.” Mrs. Brown was honored with inductions into several Halls of Fame during her lifetime.
Mrs. Brown was one of the top junior tennis players in the South, having won at the local, state and regional levels. She was nationally ranked in the 1950s. Tennis was a family affair having been taught the basics and love of the game by her brother Alan and with her sisters Jeannine and Janie helping organize her transportation and appearance at tournaments.
A graduate of Clara Carpenter Elementary, Dickson Junior High School and City High School, she then went on to be the first female player and captain of a college tennis team at the University of Chattanooga where she was also Homecoming Queen in the fall of 1959. Mrs. Brown was honored as Best Athlete and received the Babe Ruth Sportsmanship Award at City High School and was Best Athlete at UC where she was also a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority.
Mrs. Brown was married to her husband Glenn (deceased) for 49 years, and they had a passion for golf in their later years.
Mrs. Brown was a member of the Church of the Good Shepherd on Lookout Mountain, a member of the Lookout Mountain Fairyland Club and the Lookout Mountain Golf Club.
Mrs. Brown is survived by her sons Glenn W. (Skip) Brown III and his wife Barclay of Mobile, Ala.; Mitchell Brown and his wife Tina of Lutherville, Md.; six grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, her sister Jeannine Voges of Lookout Mountain and many nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Tennessee Tennis Patrons Foundation.
A memorial service and interment will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 1, at the Church of the Good Shepherd on Lookout Mountain. A reception for family and friends will follow in the Church’s Parish Hall.