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General First nameKingman Bemis (King)
LastnameLambert
GenderMale
CountryUnited States of America
Date of birth1928-10-29
Place of birthSt. Louis City, Missouri, United States of America
Date of death2021-08-30
Place of deathSaint Louis, St. Louis City, Missouri, United States of America


About

Avid sportsman, Marine (Semper Fi), patriarch of a loving family, and consummate coach and supporter to all his friends. He lived life to the fullest and on his terms.
King, as he was known to everyone, was born in St. Louis, MO. His family started the Lambert Pharmaceutical Co. maker of Listerine and his grandfather was the chief financier of Charles Lindbergh's trans-Atlantic flight to Paris.
His early life was spent growing up alongside his 3 brothers in Greenwich, Conn. He attended Greenwich Country Day School, Kent School in Kent, Conn, and eventually graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in Economics. This is also where he discovered his love for competitive tennis.
Upon graduation from college, World War II was in full swing and the draft was after him. Rather than waiting around to be drafted, his uncle persuaded him to join the Navy and he entered flight school in Pensacola, FL. He was an active duty Marine pilot for 7 years. Upon leaving active duty he transferred to the Marine Corps Reserves completing 22 years retiring with a rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
Sports were always in the forefront of King's life: Tennis, Squash, Golf, Swimming, Football, Baseball and Pelota (a South American sport). If it was a sport with a ball, he would master it. Tennis, however, was the sport that stuck with him for life, being on the University of Virginia tennis team, the All Marine tennis team and later traveling on the tennis circuit in Europe and the US Eastern Grass Court Circuit. In 1961 he married his wife, Cindy, and they traveled on the European tennis circuit for 3 months which culminated when he played at Wimbledon in Doubles and Mixed Doubles. He was selected for and played on many USTA Cup teams such as the Britannia Cup in 1994, the International Tennis Federation Vets World Cup in 1999. He also played on the 1970 United States Fronton Team in San Sebastian, Spain at the World Pelota Championships. He was inducted into the Southern California Senior Tennis Hall of Fame in 2011.
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Returning to the US, it was now time to "settle down" and look towards starting a family. He and Cindy based themselves in South Florida where he joined Dunlop in their golf and tennis division and soon after he became district manager of golf and tennis for Spaulding in the southeast. In 1963 Monsanto hired him to join their newly developed Astroturf division in NYC, which eventually led to King and Cindy moving to Southern California where he became the district manager for Monsanto's Astro Turf division. King traveled several times to Australia and throughout the US testing, improving and promoting the product. He eventually left Monsanto to pursue building tennis clubs. King went on to build the John Wayne Tennis Club in Newport Beach, CA, the West Covina Racquet Club in Covina, CA and he built, owned and operated the Racquet Club of Irvine in Irvine, CA with three partners.
In 1971 they moved from Alhambra, CA to Tustin, CA. He continued to play tennis nationwide and coaching any eager tennis player looking to improve his or her game. He was always the cheerleader and got more pleasure out of someone's win than he did his own whether it be tennis, golf, fishing or any other game.
Upon his retirement King & Cindy moved to Sun Valley, Idaho in 1994 where King discovered a new passion that didn't involve a ball...fly fishing. It was never uncommon to see King hanging out at Lost River or Silver Creek Outfitters obsessing over the best fly or the best day to fish. He finally realized, all days were perfect to fish and he enjoyed many days trapesing up and down the Big Wood River and floating Silver Creek at Nick Purdy's R & R Fishing Club in Picabo, ID. Always the competitor, his question to his fishing friends was always, "How many did you catch and on what fly?" In his later years when tennis was no longer an option, golf became his second passion becoming a member of the Elkhorn Golf Club and always betting whomever he was playing a dollar.
King is survived by his wife of 60 years, Cindy, 2 Daughters, 4 grandchildren
King was fly fishing and playing golf up until the end which was the way he lived life.

Media


Archive statistics Career1956 - 1971
Tournament wins6
Matches126
Match wins69


Tournament wins 1966 - Westchester (Open)
1962 - Lago Mar Invitation (Amateur)
1961 - Hamburg Whitsun (Amateur)
1961 - Wolfsburg (Amateur)
1959 - Bermuda Championships (Amateur)
1959 - Coral Beach Club Invitation (Open)


Tournaments Southern California Championship - 1971 US Open - 1966 Westchester - 1966 US Open Consolation - 1966 US Open - 1965 Nassau Bowl - 1965 Southampton Invitation (Long Island) - 1965 Miami - 1964 Good Neighbor Tournament - 1964 Austin Smith Championships - 1964 Colombia International - 1964 Masters Invitation - 1964 Florida Gold Coast - 1964 Miami - 1963 Dixie Championships - 1963 South Florida - 1963 Good Neighbor Tournament - 1963 Masters Invitation - 1963 Florida State Closed - 1963 Miami - 1962 Eastern Grass Court Championships - 1962 South Florida - 1962 Good Neighbor Tournament - 1962 Austin Smith Championships - 1962 Colombia International - 1962 Florida State Closed - 1962 Lago Mar Invitation - 1962 Monte Carlo - 1961 US Open - 1961 Miami - 1961 Newport Casino - 1961 Eastern Grass Court Championships - 1961 Wiesbaden Championships - 1961 Austin Smith Championships - 1961 Championships of Frankfurt am Main - 1961 International Championshps of the Ruhr-Area - 1961 Hamburg Whitsun - 1961 Wolfsburg - 1961 Paris International - Qualifying - 1961 Florida Gold Coast - 1961 US Open - 1960 Newport Casino - 1960 Eastern Grass Court Championships - 1960 Southampton Invitation (Long Island) - 1960 Triple A - 1960 Pennsylvania Lawn Tennis Championship - 1960 Florida State Closed - 1960 Newport - Consolation - 1960 Tuscaloosa Grass Court Invitation - 1960 Southampton - Consolation - 1960 Florida East Coast - 1960 US Open - 1959 Bermuda Championships - 1959 Coral Beach Club Invitation - 1959 Pennsylvania Lawn Tennis Championship - 1959 Santa Ana - 1957 Balboa Bay Club Invitation - 1957 Southern Championships - 1956 Cincinnati - 1956 US Clay Courts - 1956 Western States Championships - 1956 Good Neighbor Tournament - 1956 Hollywood Florida - 1956