By Darlene Jackson

Suzanne Monique Provost Murren Gardner is Mother Tennis here in Newtown, where for the past 30 years or so she has tossed millions of tennis balls to teach tennis to the players from ages four to 80.

She is also the mother of five young women, all of whom played No. 1 singles on their high school teams. One of the five, Patty Murren, is a touring professional player as well as a tennis teacher. Mrs Gardner is married to David Alexander Gardner, who owns and operates Chintz-N-Prints of Newtown.

Tennis started early for Sue, who began playing in her native Manchester, New Hampshire, at the age of six. She was inspired by her tennis-playing father, Dr. Adolph Provost, an ear, eye, nose, and throat doctor. Sue was the third child of four, having an older brother and sister and then a younger sister. The family was French Canadian and spoke French in the home until she was 11. She attended high school in Manchester and then enrolled in Emmanuel College in Boston. She also attended the New England Conservatory of Music studying voice and piano. She shyly admitted to actually being a soloist at Symphony Hall in Boston; however her music and college career in Boston were cut short when her mother became ill and she returned home. She enrolled locally at Notre Dame College and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in French, English, and social studies.

She met Bob Murren, a dentist from Fairfield, at a wedding in Manchester and married him right after college graduation. They made their home here in Newtown and Dr Murren practiced in the Chase Office Building. Sue bore him four daughters, taught French for four years in Easton and five years at Melrose School in Brewster, and continued her interest in tennis. They had a court at their home and many of today’s adult tennis players started taking lessons with Sue there.

The Murren’s youngest daughter, Judy who is now 23, was only 10 months old when Bob died of a heart attack. Both Bob’s father and mother had heart trouble and he had endured a quadruple by-pass operation only eight months previously. The operation had promised a better quality of life, but not a cure.

Sue went into action to find a way to support and raise her daughters. She went through extensive training, took a six-hour written exam, and an observed practical teaching exam to become a certified professional instructor. Her United States Professional Tennis Registry (USPTF) membership was acquired by courses taken at Hilton Head and Dennis Vandermeer’s Tennis University. She has to be re-certified periodically. Her training has served her and the town of Newtown well.

She teaches 20-25 hours a week during the winter at Candlewood Tennis and Fitness Club and 40-45 hours a week during the summer. She teaches privately on her home court, at Dickinson Town Park for the Park and Recreation Department of Newtown, and at the Ballantine courts in Southbury for that Park and Recreation Department. When she spots particularly gifted players, she funnels them to the other professional instructors in the area where she feels they will progress best. She is a genius at analyzing a players assets and liabilities and can help players make adjustments as needed.

Sue is also a tough opponent herself and still tries to play doubles at least once a week, even though she can’t step on a court without a back brace, a need provoked by all the years of pounding on the court. She does it all with a smile and encouragement to both her students and her opponents.

A year and a half after Bob died, Sue met David Gardner, who had never wed. They were married in St. Rose Church in Newtown in 1979. She also taught David how to improve his game, which is currently on hold while his Achilles tendon heals.

At one time Sue organized all the tennis parties that were held at Candlewood and Beaver Brook. Then, all the players paid to attend and often played until the wee hours of the morning. Sue was called a “fixture” on the courts in 1995 when the Newtown Tennis Association presented her with the Distinguished Service Award for long time service to the game. Sue said, she not only loved the game of tennis and teaching, but she particularly liked teaching children to play because she knows what a difference it can make in their lives.

Between matches Sue and David were raising the four Murren daughters, Sue (now 33), Vicky (31), Patty (26), and Judy (23), and their own daughter, Laura, 19. Also Sue was working with many of the town’s younger players in helping to set up what later became the Laurel Cup. Still she takes groups of young people to professional tournaments, Davis Cup matches, etc.

Daughter Sue played for Newtown High School and now lives in Brookfield and is sales supervisor for Paragon Aquatics. She graduated from Stone Business College.

Vicky is a speech pathologist in Boston and graduated with a BA from Providence College and masters from Southern Connecticut. She was also a tennis instructor for Newtown Parks and Recreation and graduated from Immaculate High School.

Patty, the tennis professional, also graduated from Immaculate and Wake Forest University. She was the No 1 ranked women’s national amateur. In February, she will be playing tournaments in Mexico.

Judy, who recently became engaged in Paris, graduated from Immaculate and Southern and is a social worker for DATAHR and MARAKESH, both agencies that work with special needs clients. She lives in New Haven.

Laura, also an Immaculate tennis player, works with the Animal Emergency Clinic.

Mother Sue has managed to bring together her loves, including ironing, to serve her community. Can you believe it? She loves ironing. She volunteers her spare time to iron the holy linens for St. Rose Church. Her special bonus is being able to travel some with Patty. In November they spent three weeks in Europe – England, France, Slovakia, and Switzerland, where Patty had some good wins. In 1998 they traveled to Canada and spent three weeks traveling together in France. They have also done a good deal of teaching together and that is really “special” for Newtown’s Mother Tennis.