May 8, 2018

On May 8, 2018, Karl Kamrath Sr. was inducted into the University of Texas Longhorn Hall of Fame in 1978 and the Texas Tennis Hall of Fame in 1984. Karl Kamrath Sr. (1911-1988) was an American architect and championship tennis player. Kamrath won several state and sectional singles and doubles championships in the East and Midwest during college. 1931, the Horns won the SWC with a perfect season at 10-0. All the finalists in singles and doubles were Longhorns. Bruce Barnes won his third straight Southwest Conference championship, and Karl Kamrath and Barnes won in doubles. Barnes and Karl Kamrath also won the national collegiate doubles title, and Kamrath was a singles finalist. After graduating from the University of Texas, he married fellow tennis player Eugenie Sampson in 1934. They divorced in 1975.

Jeannie Sampson, Kamrath, Gonzalez

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The Texas Tennis Museum and Hall of Fame mourn the loss of 2012 inductee Eugenie “Jeannie” Sampson Kamrath Gonzalez, who passed away on Sunday, May 6, 2018, at 105.

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In her youth, in the 1920s and 1930s, Jeannie was the leading tennis player in the Midwest Section of the US Lawn Tennis Association and competed for many years at the US National Championships in Forest Hills, New York. While attending UT-Austin in 1931, she was invited by famed University of Texas tennis coach Dr. D. A. Penick to play tennis on the UT Varsity men’s tennis courts and was the first female player to be so honored.

Allowing a woman to practice tennis on the UT men’s Varsity tennis courts was unheard of then.

Later, that woman married Karl Kamrath. In 1932, 1 33, and 1934, Eugenie Sampson Kamrath Gonzalez was a finalist at a fledgling Tennis Tournament, which was later named the River Oaks Invitational Tennis Tournament—now the USTA Clay Court Championship. 1937, Se was hired as the first teaching tennis professional at Houston Country Club and River Oaks Country Club.

In 1932, 1933, and 1934, she was a women’s finalist at the fledgling Houston Invitation Tennis Tournament, which became the River Oaks Invitational Tennis Tournament and is now the USTA Clay Court Championships. As a member of River Oaks Country Club beginning in 1938, she and her first husband, Karl Kamrath, were instrumental in strengthening the club’s national invitational tournament by helping to bring some of the nation’s top amateur tennis players to the River Oaks Invitational Tennis Tournament.

For her accomplishments in playing and service to the game of tennis in Houston and Texas, Jeannie and her father were jointly inducted into the Texas Tennis Hall of Fame in 2012. 5731  

Below is a youtube link to an honor Jeannie received. Go to the 4:25 mark to hear.

 https://youtu.be/3MRY8l7ZmI0

 Like other Houston tennis enthusiasts, she was instrumental in founding the Houston Tennis Association. In 1952, she prevailed on her father, Jack Sampson, to move from Chicago to Houston to serve as HTA’s first volunteer executive director, a position he held until 1969. 

As a member of River Oaks Country Club beginning in 1938, she and her first husband, Karl Kamrath, were instrumental in strengthening the club’s national invitational tournament by helping to bring some of the nation’s top amateur tennis players to the River Oaks Invitational Tennis Tournament For her accomplishments in playing and serving the game of tennis in Houston and Texas, Jeannie and her father were jointly inducted into the Texas Tennis Hall of Fame in 2012.

Sport: Tennis (1937-39)  Bob Kamrath
Inducted: 1999 
Hometown: Austin, Texas

In 1937, All-American Bob Kamrath led the team to an SWC championship by winning the SWC singles title. In 1938 and 1939, he was the runner-up in singles. In 1937 and 1938, Bob Kamrath and Edgar Weller won the SWC doubles championship. In 1938, B b Kamrath was ranked #8 in the nation.

Jack- Kamrath