Samuel Howe III, hall of fame squash and court tennis champion, longtime investment adviser, and mentor, has died at 84

Samuel Howe III, 84, of Philadelphia, hall of fame squash and court tennis champion, longtime investment adviser, and inspirational mentor, died Thursday, Sept. 15, of complications from an infection of a long-standing hip replacement at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

Beginning in grade school and never really ending, Mr. Howe fashioned a love affair with squash and tennis that brought him national championships, four hall of fame memberships, journeys around the world, dozens of protégés, and countless friends and fans.

A wunderkind in squash and tennis at Haverford School, he was named captain of the Yale University squash team and, between 1958 and 2005, won collegiate squash titles, two national singles squash championships, six national doubles squash championships, three court tennis doubles championships, 13 masters division court tennis titles, and countless other tournaments.

In 1967, he became the only player ever to complete the North American squash grand slam by winning the U.S. and Canadian national singles and doubles championships in the same year.

He was, U.S. Squash officials said in an online tribute, a “brilliant athlete” and “strong shot-making left­waller in doubles,” and they described his game as one of “classic, graceful strokes.” Officials at the U.S. Court Tennis Association noted his “grace and passion” in an online tribute, and a former competitor said: “He was the epitome of class on and off the court.”

Mr. Howe eventually won every squash invitational in the winter season at least once and almost qualified for the 1967 Wimbledon lawn tennis tournament. He played doubles with his younger brother, fellow hall of famer Ralph Howe, and they won three straight national squash championships from 1969 to 1971, and the 1974 U.S. Amateur court tennis doubles title.

In an online tribute, a former squash competitor recalled Mr. Howe’s “stripey socks, jaunty hats and his many needlepointed belts and cummerbunds courtesy of Dodi Fordham, his wife.”

Author Rob Dinerman said in a recent podcast: “Nothing fazed or rattled Sam. … He was a beloved figure in racquet sports, completely lacking in arrogance.” Dinerman also recently published Brothers & Champions: Ralph and Sam Howe.

Mr. Howe became an enthusiastic mentor after his playing days ended in the mid-2000s, held clinics for underserved youths and others in West Philadelphia and elsewhere, and was, U.S. Squash officials said, “an avuncular presence in the galleries at a multitude of events both large and small.”

He was inducted into halls of fame by the College Squash Association and Haverford School, and he and his brother are the only two people to be inducted into both the U.S. Squash and U.S. Court Tennis Association halls of fame. He was a longtime member and former president of the Racquet Club of Philadelphia and on boards and committees at U.S. Squash, the U.S. Court Tennis Association, and the U.S. Jesters Club.

“Sam believed strongly that these sports were a wonderful way to teach young people sportsmanship.”

Personally, said Fordham, his wife of 41 years, Mr. Howe was known for his “gentlemanly persona, engaging and bright personality, warmth, and humor.” She said: “People always talked about his incredible smile and the twinkle in his eye.”

Born July 14, 1938, in Bryn Mawr, Samuel Purdy Howe III and brothers Ralph and Francis grew up in Haverford near the Merion Cricket Club. His Haverford School teams lost just one official match during his time there, and he helped Yale win squash titles in 1958 and ‘59.

He married Sally Campbell and, after a divorce, met Fordham at work, and they married in 1981. He earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering at Yale and later became a financial adviser at several companies, finally retiring from Wells Fargo Advisors around 2010.

Mr. Howe was nicknamed Sunny by family and friends for his eternal optimism, and his constant reply to how he was doing was: “Absolutely fantastic.” He also played golf, followed the stock market, and read the financial news every day.

He and Fordham traveled to Europe, Bermuda, and elsewhere, and his natural curiosity about others drew people to him. His greatest successes on and off the court, his wife said, were found “in the people he met and the lifelong friendships he enjoyed.”

In addition to his wife, former wife, and brothers, Mr. Howe is survived by other relatives.

His wife said “a celebration of a life well-played” is to be held later.

Donations in his name may be made to SquashSmarts, Lenfest Center, 3890 N. 10th St., 2nd Floor, Philadelphia, Pa. 19140.