B.C. woman uncovers humble grandfather’s acclaimed career

“Boy, he had some career!” Adam meets a woman who’s discovering her humble grandfather had an unexpectedly accomplished career.

MAPLE RIDGE, B.C. — When young Karen Redkwich posed for a black-and-white photo in her Grandpa Stan’s workshop, she was likely looking forward to sharing milk and cookies or watching football with him, rather than looking up at the pictures of acclaimed athletes that surrounded her.

“I didn’t really appreciate what he did,” Karen says. “He was Grandpa.”

While Karen was far more interested in hearing stories about him serving overseas during the Second World War, Grandpa Stan never really talked about why he was called something different at work than what it said on his Hudson’s Bay name tag.

“They called him Mister Tennis,” Karen smiles.

After the war, Stan Rhodes had started turning a skill that he’d learned before his service into an art form.

“Stringing tennis racquets became his life,” Karen says.

Stan’s craftsmanship eventually captured the attention of the best players across Canada and around the world, who showed their appreciation by posing for pictures and handwriting thank-you notes.

“Billy Jean King. Bobby Briggs,” Karen starts listing off the dozens of pictures of famous tennis players that she’s kept safe in plastic containers or hung in her home office. “Looking back, it’s like, ‘Boy! He had some career!’”

Karen also has folders full of newspaper clippings about her grandpa.

When Stan’s bosses at the Bay weren’t buying full-page ads to tout Mister Tennis, they were setting him up in display windows to demonstrate his skills which attracted crowds so large the street was blocked.

“It wasn’t like he bragged about it,” Karen says. “He was very humble.”

Like he spent 50 years supporting greatness on the court, Stan encouraged his family back home.

“I had bowling trophies, and he set this little thing up,” Karen shows a photo of her as a girl smiling with her trophies on display.

After Stan took the picture of his granddaughter, he hung it alongside the photos of the famous in his workshop.

“That was pretty special of him to honour me amongst his other treasures,” Karen smiles.

Stan died when Karen was 14. While she never got chance to know enough about his accomplishments to say how proud she was of him then, she’s hoping by sharing his story she can show him now.

“Without these people and their accomplishments and hard work and their knowledge,” Karen says. “We wouldn’t be the people we are today.”

Through honouring our past, Karen has learned we can more fully appreciate our present and move into the future with gratitude.

“Thank you, Mister Tennis,” Karen smiles. “Thank you, Grandpa!”