In Memory of Two Special IC of GB Members John Curry CBE and Charles Trippe MBE

John Curry CBE
IC of GB Member since 1964

Dear Member, 

The IC of GB are sad to inform you that John Curry passed away on Saturday 19th October 2024, aged 86.  John Curry was a valued member of the IC of GB since 1964 and served as chairman of the AELTC between 1989 and 1999, leading the club through a significant period of progress and success.

John Arthur Hugh Curry was born in 1938 and spent the first 10 years of his life in Burma and India, before attending King’s College School in Wimbledon as a boarder. He first visited the All England Club as an 11-year-old, when he took part in a coaching session with Australian player Dinny Pails for the BBC’s Children’s Hour programme. A few years later, after becoming Head Boy, he played truant from school on a Friday afternoon in 1956 to watch the gentlemen’s singles final between Lew Hoad and Ken Rosewall. 

As a player, his achievements included winning the Public Schools Singles Championship and reaching the semi-finals in both doubles events as well as the quarter-finals of the singles at the Junior Championships of Great Britain (Junior Wimbledon), held at the All England Club.   
John read Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at St. Edmund Hall College, Oxford, while captaining the tennis team and also receiving a Blue in rugby. He then went to Harvard, where he was awarded an MBA with high distinction.   
John then qualified as a chartered accountant and subsequently spent most of his business career in the electronics industry. 
By his own description, John Curry was offered Temporary Membership of the All England Club only so he would be allowed into the Grounds when he brought the visiting Harvard and Yale Prentice Cup team to practice at the Club, while he was captain of Oxford. He subsequently became a Full Member in 1971 and joined the Committee in 1979 before succeeding Buzzer Hadingham as Chairman 10 years later. 
During his decade as AELTC Chairman, John Curry worked closely with his Chief Executive Chris Gorringe, who he respected enormously. He oversaw a crucial period of development for the Club and The Championships, the most obvious of which was "The Long Term Plan", which was unveiled in 1993 and was the most ambitious improvement programme undertaken by the Club since the move to Church Road in 1922. The Plan, which saw the opening of the new No.1 Court in 1997 and ultimately the new No.2 Court in 2009, consolidated Wimbledon’s position as the world’s premier tennis tournament. 
John Curry was proud of the fact that the Championships Surplus, which had been little more than £300,000 when he joined the Committee, had risen to more than £30 million by the time he stood down as Chairman 20 years later. 
During John Curry’s tenure, significant decisions were taken that continue to benefit the Club today and into the future. In 1993, the Club purchased the freehold of Wimbledon Park Golf Course from the London Borough of Merton. The following year, the Club purchased the freehold to the Southlands College site, now home to the Club’s croquet lawns. In 1989, John had also been instrumental in the purchase of the site at Raynes Park which is now the Club’s Community Tennis Centre.  
Other milestones that took place during Curry’s chairmanship included play on Middle Sunday for the first time ever in 1991, and again in 1997, and the firming up of the ‘Almost Entirely White’ clothing rule in 1995. 
John Curry was made a CBE in the 1997 Queen’s Birthday Honours List. He retired as Chairman in 1999 and was succeeded by Tim Phillips. Curry regarded it as one of his achievements as Chairman that he left behind a Committee containing several excellent candidates to replace him.  
Interviewed for the Club’s 150th anniversary celebrations in 2018, Curry claimed that being Chairman had been much easier for him than some of his predecessors, modestly stating: “When you’re drinking the water, remember who dug the well”. 
John Curry will be remembered as a valued IC of GB Member and an All England Chairman who, in the best traditions of Wimbledon, took the Club forward whilst maintaining everything that is special about the Club and The Championships. 
He is survived by his wife Anne, three sons and a daughter. 

Charles Trippe MBE
IC of GB Member since 1967

The IC of GB are sad to inform you that Charles Trippe MBE passed away on Tuesday 22nd October, aged 81. Charles had been a valued member of the IC of GB since 1967, a Full Member of the All England Club since 1998, an ITF Board Member and Lawn Tennis Association President. 
Charles served on a host of committees within the sport and was well known and respected by the tennis family across the world.

Charles Trippe was a strong tennis player from an early age, he competed at Britain’s Junior Wimbledon. He subsequently attended the University of Nottingham, became  British Universities Champion and represented Great Britain at the World Student Games in Budapest. He graduated with a degree in Economics, before qualifying as an accountant and holding several senior business roles.
Charles represented Hampshire & IOW for some 22 years, including in Group 1 at County Week before joining the LTA Council in 1991.

Off the court, Charles made a significant and highly respected contribution throughout his life to tennis administration. At various stages he was chairman of Hampshire & IOW LTA, President of the Veterans’ LTA and a member of the ITF Board.

Charles held several senior roles at the LTA, joining the Main Board in 1995 and serving as Chairman of the National Tennis Development Board from 1995-1997, Treasurer of the LTA from 1998-2000, Deputy President from 2000-2003 and President of the LTA from 2003-2005. 
From 2005 - 2009, Trippe served on the Board as a Vice President and was Chair of the ITF Constitutional Committee and the ITF Seniors Committee.
He represented the LTA on the Committee of Management for The Wimbledon Championships between 1998 and 2012.
In 2015 Charles received the ITF Award for Services to the Game for an outstanding contribution to tennis over 50 years from player to National Association President.
Charles was awarded an MBE in 2013.
He is survived by his wife Helen and daughter Katherine.