Wilmington native and tennis great Lenny Simpson has died, founded One Love Tennis program

Lenny Simpson, who grew up in Wilmington and went on to play professional tennis, coach college tennis and later return to his hometown to begin the One Love Tennis instructional and educational program, has died. He was 75.

According to an email sent out by One Love Tennis on Friday afternoon, Simpson passed on Thursday. A cause of death was not mentioned.

"Lenny started One Love 10 years ago with his vision to provide free tennis lessons to the urban youth and give them the opportunity to learn the game that he loved so much. His One Love kids were his passion. Lenny was a true visionary, an inspiring leader, and a dear friend to so many. We have lost our leader, but his legacy will continue as the One Love story doesn’t end here. We will continue his legacy with this next chapter just as he wished," the email stated.

A celebration of life will be held at Port City Community Church at a date to be announced, according to the email.

Simpson had suffered a stroke in early 2021 but was able to return to coaching as part of the One Love program at the historic Hubert Eaton House on Orange Street in Wilmington, a house and tennis court that Simpson and his wife, JoAnn, helped restore.

In an October 2022 post on the One Love Tennis Facebook page, Simpson said he would step down as director but would "continue to be actively involved" with One Love.

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Over the course of his career, Simpson racked up a long list of accolades and accomplishments.

In 1964, at age 15, Simpson became the youngest person to compete in the U.S. National Championships, now the U.S. Open, in Forest Hills, N.Y. He won in the first round, but lost to his friend and mentor, Arthur Ashe, in the second round.

In addition to a world-class overhead smash, Simpson was known for his strength, quickness and agility as a player.

Simpson would later attend East Tennessee State University on a full scholarship, and there he won various tennis championships. He would later coach the tennis team at ETSU in 1972 and '73 before joing the professional team tennis tour.

He opened a tennis facility in Knoxville with his wife in the late 1970s, and moved back to Wilmington in 2013, where he started the One Love Tennis program. Simpson was inducted into the Greater Wilmington Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.

Lendward "Lenny" Simpson Jr. was born in Wilmington on Sept. 23, 1948. He grew up in a house on Ann Street that, as luck would have it, was just a block away from the home of Wilmington doctor, civil rights activist and tennis champ Hubert Eaton Sr.

Eaton, who also helped coach tennis great Althea Gibson, became Simpson's coach, friend and mentor.

Growing up in Wilmington, Simpson told the StarNews in 2020, "Was as segregated as you could get. Jim Crow laws were active."

He said he was able to overcome early, and unearned, disadvantages thanks to a mix of family support, talent, fortunate personality traits, faith in God and, perhaps most important, opportunity. He left Wilmington after getting full athletic and academic scholarships to two of the top prep schools in the country: Cheshire Academy in Connecticut and The Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania.

In 2011, Simpson helped bring tennis legend John McEnroe to Wilmington for an Azalea Festival exhibition match against fellow former pro Todd Martin. That same year, Simpson was a special guest of the festival.

"I remember sitting on the curb as a 6-, 7-, 8-, 9-, 10-year-old, never seeing anyone (in the Azalea Festival Parade) look like me," Simpson said in 2020, of his feelings in 2011. "From a little kid sitting on the curb … to a celebrity guest on the VIP podium at the Azalea Festival in Wilmington, North Carolina. And it hit me like a ton of bricks. I broke down emotionally."

Soon after, Simpson decided to return to Wilmington. The opportunities he was given as a child, he told the StarNews in 2020, changed the trajectory of his life and inspired him to create One Love Tennis, which has worked with hundreds of children since its formation.

Moving back to Wilmington also led Simpson to restore his mentor Eaton's former house and tennis court, both of which had fallen into disrepair. David and Carolyn McLemore purchased the property and gifted it to Simpson, his wife and One Love Tennis.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Wilmington native and tennis great Lenny Simpson has died at age 75