Allen Quay

On March 22nd, 2016 Allen Quay passed away in Ft. Pierce, Florida due to complications of diabetes and a battle with colon cancer. In his final days he had many family members by his side including his loving daughter, Alyssa Quay and stepson, Tim Hazen who were with him around the clock. Allen is relieved of a body that was not serving him well and is at peace with his passing.

Allen was born January 3rd, 1936 in Brockport, New York, the only child of O. Austin and Jesse Quay. His father operated large construction equipment throughout the country and the family moved from one state to another for large construction projects. As a result Allen attended 10 high schools in a variety of states including Texas, New York, Florida, etc. He latched on to tennis, a sport that his mother introduced to him to keep him occupied. It became a common thread in his life that he could take with him to new environments. Like many things in his life he excelled in this endeavor and eventually made a career of being a tennis pro for the first part of his life.

After winning junior tournaments, one after the other, he became a tennis star in his own right, ranked 7th in the USA as a junior he captured the coveted Orange Bowl tournament in Miami in 1954 at the age of 18, joining champions the likes of Bjorn Borg, Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe, Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, etc. as winner of arguably the most important junior tennis tournament in the world. He was also chosen by tennis legend Jack Kramer as a member of the Jr Davis Cup team and represented his country in international play.

He was captain of the University of Miami Tennis team leading a strong squad to many victories. He played in four Grand Slam tournaments, three US Championships in 1954, 1955 and 1956 and then, renamed the US Open, which he played in 1968, losing to the top player in the world, John Newcombe, in a center court match.

It was during his college years he met his first wife, Beverly Salisbury, while teaching tennis in Northeast Harbor, Maine. They married soon afterward while Allen was still in school. A member of the Air Force ROTC while at University of Miami he then attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, FL with the idea of becoming an Air Force pilot. But not passing a strict eyesight exam he abandoned the idea and he and his young wife moved to Fayetteville, Long Island where Allen taught school at Bayport High School, eventually moving to Owls Head, Maine where Allen also taught high school in Rockland and where they had their first child, Allen Jr in 1958. Second son, Harold, and daughter, Alyssa came soon after while living in Hollywood, Florida.

Being accustomed to moving and wanting to get back to tennis, he took head tennis pro positions for the City of Hollywood, Florida; Cohasset Tennis Club in Massachusetts; Riomar Bay Yacht Club in Vero Beach, Florida; City of Ft Pierce, Florida; and eventually building two of his own clubs: Westside Racquet Club in Vero Beach and Sandalwood Racquet Club in Ft Pierce. While in Massachusetts he took the position of head tennis pro for a short while at the prestigious Orange Lawn Tennis Club in New Jersey where he hosted the 42nd annual Eastern Grass Court Championships including such players as Stan Smith, Arthur Ashe among others.

Allen competed in state and national pro tournaments throughout his tennis teaching pro career, usually ranked on top in his age division in the state of Florida. He played exhibition matches with Chris Evert (Allen and his mother Jesse were friends with Chris and her father, Jimmy Evert, the head tennis pro for the City of Ft Lauderdale), Ken Rosewall, Frank Froehling and others. Allen collected so many tennis titles and trophies (over 400) that, in desperation, a collection of almost 300 trophies were buried at a property in Vero Beach using a backhoe to dig a large enough hole. He couldn’t bear moving them one more time.

While running his own tennis clubs and being “Mr. Tennis” in this part of Florida, Allen met his lovely wife, Anne Hazen, and became a father to her two children, Tim and Mary Ann. Two families were successfully melded which was accomplishment of its own.

After an illustrious career in this sport that he loved he found a new love: helping others. He and Anne became ministers in Unity Christ Church and devoted their lives to improving the lives of others. They were co-ministers at several churches, most notably 21 years at Unity of Gaithersburg in Maryland where, as new ministers, they took a burgeoning congregation which was meeting in a hotel conference room and grew it into one of the largest Unity Churches in the country, well known enough to be nicknamed “Unity Village East.”

After Gaithersburg they continued to co-minister at churches around the country. Sadly, Allen lost Anne (AJ) while ministering in Arizona and bravely went on with her by his side in spirit only. He searched out churches to help wherever he was and for as long as he could, fulfilling that basic need in all of us to help others. Allen lived that basic drive as a way of life.

Allen was able to build things, like his father he built them large and strong. Unlike his father, they were not of steel and concrete but of life, recreation and of love. He had a memorable impact on all that met him. His gentle nature and ability to make you feel better were his trademarks. He cared.
He is survived by his son Allen Quay II and wife Rikki of Adelaide Australia, son Harold Quay of Los Angeles and daughter Alyssa Quay and husband Charlie Baker of Ft Pierce; stepson Tim Hazen and wife JoAnne of Lakeland, FL and stepdaughter Mare Davies and husband Huwe of London England. He is also survived by seven grandchildren: Angie O’Brien, Megan Quay, Jennifer Quay, Ashley Maloy, Waylon Maloy, Hunter Baker and Kelly Hazen. And by four great grandchildren: Brooke, Russell, Rhaylen and Kenzington.

A celebration of Allen’s life will be held Sunday, April 10th 2016 at Haisley Funeral Home at 3015 Okeechobee Road, Ft Pierce, FL 34947 phone (772) 461-5211. The visiting hour will be from 1pm-2pm and service will be at 2pm, reception to follow. A Celebration of Life will also be held on Saturday, April 9th at 11am at Unity of Gaithersburg, 111 Central Ave, Gaithersburg, MD 20877 (301) 947-3626.

Flowers may be sent to either Haisley Funeral Home or Unity of Gaithersburg. In lieu of flowers a donation can be made to the American Diabetes Association at diabetes.org or to your nearest Unity Christ Church.