In the house where the Bishop family lived on Wydown Boulevard, just west of Skinker, there was a place called Benny’s Room. It was a repository for Ben Bishop’s tennis trophies. 

He collected more than his share, and now, at age 91, he estimates there were 25 trophies stored in that room. Ben could easily have accumulated more over the years except that his tennis career was shorter than it might have been. 

He was twice a Missouri Valley champion, he was a runner-up in the national juniors and made the U.S. Junior Davis Cup team. He played No. 1 at Colgate, but eventually it was time to get on with his life. 

It was after World War II, and the Korean War had not yet run its course. 

“In order to get through college, I joined the Naval Reserve,” Ben said. “I spent two years on active duty when I graduated from college.” 

By the time he had fulfilled his commitment, Ben was for all intents and purposes done with tennis. 

“I think I was ready to settle down,” he said. “I had a girlfriend, we wanted to get married and pretty soon we had a couple of kids, and they occupied my time. Other than a few tournaments around St. Louis, that was the end of my career.” 

Ben went to work at Western Waterproofing Co., the company his father and uncle started in 1915. Eventually Ben took over and ran the company, and then Ben was succeeded by his son, Ben Bishop Jr. The company now does business as Western Specialty Contractors. 

These days Ben has a home in North Palm Beach, enjoying his golden years in the Sunshine State. 

“I live in Florida six months a year,” he said. “It’s awfully good to get away from St. Louis winters. I commute back and forth for work a little bit, but I don’t work very much.” 

Ben lives alone when he’s in Florida – he lost his wife, Elaine, seven years ago. But he’s rarely lonely. 

“I have five kids, 15 grandkids and 12 great-grandkids,” he said. “So I’m busy with my family.” 

It was Ben’s father, George Bishop, who got Ben into tennis. 

“He took up tennis late in life and he loved it,” Ben said. “He’d go over to Triple A and he’d take me over there and I’d catch on with whoever was there to play. It came kind of easy to me, so I liked it.” 

Soon Ben was playing under the guidance of the renowned tennis pro Allan Carvell, who Ben describes as “Mr. Tennis in those days, kind of like Larry Miller was recently in St. Louis.” 

Ben was admitted at John Burroughs, where, he said, “I earned my varsity tennis letter in eighth grade. My younger days were my most competitive times.” 

He grew to be 6-foot-3 and played with fluid, classic strokes. Like other St. Louis players of his era, he prospered at the Armory, where the slick wooden floor forced players to learn an all-court game. 

“It gave me a place to play in the winter instead of a makeshift gym in some church,” he said. “There were lots of tournaments at the Armory that I was fortunate enough to participate in.” 

In the national juniors at the Armory in 1949, Ben was runner-up to Ham Richardson, who Ben calls “the best junior player in that time.” 

It was a strong time for U.S. tennis, with players like Jack Kramer, Ted Schroeder and Vic Seixas a few years older than Ben, and Tony Trabert and Richardson about the same age. The young Australians such as Lew Hoad and Ken Rosewall were a couple of years younger and on the way up. 

Most of those players had long careers in the spotlight, but it wasn’t in the cards for Ben.