Senior Olympian develop strong bond on the tennis court

Lois Lowe came to the Senior Olympics to help her friend drive and decided to get in some singles tennis matches at the tennis portion of the Senior Olympics Friday afternoon at the Polson Tennis Courts at Linderman Elementary School.

Lowe, who has been a tennis player for 20 years, started after her husband passed away and she retired from being a teacher.

“I went to Navarro and after my husband passed away, I bought a place and decided to stay there full time,” Lowe, who is a resident of Nevada said. “I didn’t have the time or the money to start playing until after I retired. I started playing 20 years ago.”

After having knee replacement surgery, Lowe decided to participate in tennis as a way to stay in shape.

“I hurt when I was sitting down or playing tennis,” Lowe said. “To me, there was no difference.”

In contrast to Lowe, Roger Norris-Tull started playing the sport of tennis 55 years ago.

After moving back from Bush, Alaska, Lowe moved to Dillon around 10 years ago and decided to get back into the sport after taking a 15-year hiatus.

“I kind of split my time between living in town and playing tennis every day,” Norris-Tull said. “When I wasn’t living in a remote cabin, I spent the rest of my time doing that. I played a lot of tennis during the summer months.”

Norris-Tull recently had shoulder replacement last year and is still in the process of healing.

Norris-Tull, who worked in a steel mill in Gary, Ind., said he was able to pay his way through college at the University of Indiana and still plays through the winter months.

“We play indoors (in Dillon) all winter long,” Norris-Tull said. “Sometimes, it can be late May before the snow gets off the tennis courts in Dillon.”