Straus spent his life helping people on and off the court

A Tennis Topics article by John Packett, RTA Staff Writer

Raymond Straus was all about helping others.

Whether it was letting homeless people sleep in his garage when the area was hit by a snowstorm or starting an organization to give junior tennis players an opportunity to improve their games, the native Richmonder didn’t hesitate to lend a hand.

“He was always willing to do something for you and never, ever asked for anything in return,” said Bill Carli, who was friends with Straus since their high-school days. “He really got a lot of enjoyment from helping other people.”

Straus, 48, died in his sleep on March 6, and his passing will be missed not only by many in the Richmond marketing community, where he served as president of two local agencies, but by those in the area tennis fraternity.

With his wife of 19 years, April, Straus founded Tennis4Life Academy, a non-profit youth organization dedicated to making junior players in Richmond better. From its inception in 2007, Tennis4Life had grown to serving 125 families in the area.

“The three of us were chatting about it,” said Kim Brewer, a close friend of the family who also helped get the project going, “but he was always the guidance behind it. The voice of reason. He always sat and listened to everybody’s input and then, at the end of the day, would try and direct us.”

Tennis4Life paid area pros to work with juniors at Courtside West Racquet and Fitness Club, Virginia Commonwealth University, Kanawha Recreation Association and Collegiate in an effort to make them more competitive with their counterparts in Northern Virginia and Maryland.

“We couldn’t find the kind of tennis programs we wanted for our own children, nor could some others, so it just kind of started from that point,” continued Brewer. “We said, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun to pull something together for our own children?’

“And then we had so many parents from different levels that came to us and it just grew from there.”

Brewer also pointed out how well Straus got along with whoever he had contact with.

“He meant a lot to everybody,” she said. “He really embraced everybody. Sears Driscoll was telling me, ‘You know, Raymond just made such an effort to get to know me and include me and become my friend. He didn’t have to do that. All I was doing was hitting with Brady once a week.’”

Straus’ son, Brady, is a ninth-grader at Collegiate and a member of the tennis team that won the Prep League and Virginia Independent Schools championships last year. A daughter, Allie, also plays on the junior varsity squad.

“That’s how Raymond was with everybody,” said Brewer. “He loved to get to know you. He was so kind and such an amazing man.”

A 4.0 player himself, Straus enjoyed watching Brady play, as well as other juniors.

“The thing about Raymond is he wasn’t so concerned about who the best player was, he really liked seeing these guys out there competing and showing good sportsmanship,” said Damian Sancilio, a teaching pro and director of tennis at Courtside West.

“I remember when Brady played a match against John DePew in the city tournament last year. It was a really good-level match. I remember his comments about that match. He loved the fact that it was a young guy against an older guy, and they were such good sports with each other.

“He loved that whole thing and he was so proud that he was the father of a guy who was so respectful to the other player. It wasn’t, ‘Oh, Brady, that would be great if you could beat this guy.’ He had nothing to do with that. He just like the fact there was a great spirit out there.”

Pat Anderson, another teaching pro who worked with Tennis4Life, said Straus got a kick out of watching everybody play.

“He followed other kids, not just Brady, in tournaments,” said Anderson. “Whether it was Shyam [Venkatasubramanian] or whoever, he was cheering for them. And in different sports. Brady was a good soccer player, too, and he went to his matches. He was really into sports.”

And Straus didn’t mind donating his time to help run some of the junior tournaments around town.

“I can remember sitting at the University of Richmond one Saturday during the city [junior] tournament,” said Anderson. “We were helping him for a minute. He had been out there all day and I swear it was like 97 degrees or something, with not much shade.

“He was out there buying lunch for the people who were helping him. He was always doing stuff like that. Just a great guy.”

Carli may have summed up Straus’ life best when he said, “He was a real gentleman and looked out for other people a lot of times more so than for himself.”