Isle of Man tennis stalwart Janet Southam passed away at the age of 91 on September 25 at Castle View Nursing Home, Peel. She had previously lived in Port Erin.
Janet and her late husband Peter came to live in the island in 1984. They were both very talented tennis players and both played at Inter-County Championship events. Employment saw them move residences on several occasions and Janet represented Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Somerset at various times and finally the Isle of Man.
She coached juniors at Castletown Lawn Tennis Club for many years as well as Isle of Man junior teams. She had spells as women’s captain at Castletown and was in many successful Town teams in inter-club competitions.
After her playing days came to an end, she took the position of vice-president of Castletown LTC and continued to take a great interest in the activities and fortunes of the club.
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In Janet’s memory, the club is to provide three perpetual trophies from next year for the junior red, orange and green ball club championships.
The photograph shows the Castletown tennis team which won the Todmorden Shield in 1995 against Albany and Ramsey, with the competition having been played at the Ramsey Grammar School courts.
Pictured on the back row from left to right are: Ron Ronan, Craig Blackwell, David Trustrum and Colin Brown.
On the front row, left to right: Hazel Simons, Ann Corris, Janet Southam and Tracey MacMahon.
RON RONAN
Janet’s funeral took place on Friday, October 18 at Douglas Crematorium.
- We recently printed a nostalgia piece about Janet with the Isle of Man 10-and-under tennis team from 38 years ago in 1986. This appeared in the October 15 edition of the Isle of Man Examiner.