Ted D’Souza: Tennis Visionary
Ted D’Souza, of Whitefish Bay, WI, was born in a small village on the southwest coast India and over his fascinating 92 years of life was an inspiration to family, friends, community, and colleagues. He was one of the oldest of eleven children in a family that had been farming for generations in the fertile lands of south India.
As with many other minority groups in old world farming societies, his family recognized the importance of education for the future of subsequent generations. Education was not easy to come by but was a priority for him, and he excelled in school against the odds of a five mile walk to school each way, lack of electricity for reading at night, and the responsibilities of an elder sibling in a farming household. His brilliance in math and science was evident early on, graduated near the top of his class with a bachelor of science degree, and later earned a graduate degree in petroleum engineering. His love of sports developed in the early years of his life as it provided an escape from the harsh living he endured. Growing up in a village with lots of relatives, he played everything that was available to him in the dirt fields, initially soccer and cricket, and learned to swim in a river. In college, he availed himself of real athletic facilities and added volleyball and table tennis to his repertoire. It wasn’t until he got to Kuwait in his early twenties that he picked up tennis, but his athleticism was a natural fit for the sport. He was soon winning championships and later represented Kuwait in friendly international competitions among the middle eastern countries, and tennis became his primary sporting passion for the rest of his life. He never forgot his ancestral farming roots and it evolved into a love of vegetable gardens which were the envy of every community he lived in, including the tropical climate around Bombay, the harsh deserts of Kuwait and Bahrain, and the upper midwestern climates of Ohio and Wisconsin. He believed in giving back, was always willing to help others, and volunteered as often and for as many causes as he could.
Ted instilled the love of tennis in his family, and the recognition that it could be a source for mental and physical enrichment, and a foundation for many aspects of personal development. The family’s love of tennis continues in the Milwaukee area through his son, Trevor D’Souza, who is a long time Board member and a past President of the Milwaukee Education and Tennis Foundation. The MTEF is dedicated to enriching the lives of Milwaukee’s’ youth through tennis.
In 2024, the Milwaukee Tennis Classic and Al Hurvis/ADAMM Education Foundation jointly founded the Ted D’Souza Scholarship awarded every year to a student, from an immigrant family, graduating from the Hmong American Peace Academy to pursue a two-year associate degree at Milwaukee Area Technical College.