Daniel B. Dwyer, 68, tennis enthusiast

  Daniel B. Dwyer, a managing partner and part owner of the Point Set Indoor Racquet Club in Oceanside, and a past president of the USTA Eastern section, died suddenly of a heart attack on May 25. He is survived by his daughter Kimberly, son Shawn and two grandchildren. 

  Dan was one of the game’s most visible administrators and a longtime certified teaching professional in the U.S. Professional Tennis Association. He helped young John McEnroe and Mary Carillo with their tennis games at the Douglaston Club. He also tutored world class players such as Gene and Sandy Mayer, John Sullivan and hundreds of junior players ranked nationally in the U.S. Tennis Association. 

Danny rose through the ranks as a player and coach. In addition to his affiliation with Point Set, he was also the head tennis pro at the Woodmere Country Club for over 50 years. For four years, he was a tournament director at the New York City Mayor’s Cup, the world’s largest interscholastic event, with over 800 participants. He chaired the Catholic High School Tennis League when he taught biology and English at his alma mater, Holy Cross, in Flushing.

He served in every volunteer position on the USTA Eastern board — from Long Island regional vice president to president of the section and the Junior Tennis Foundation. He was among the first sectional leaders to support league and schools programs for recreational players. He has been inducted into the Halls of Fame at his alma maters — St. Edward’s and Holy Cross.

In the late 1970s, Danny got a phone call from a wheelchair athlete who wanted to enter a tennis tournament. He quickly made Point Set wheelchair-accessible and began hosting one of the country’s first, free wheelchair tennis clinics. By the mid-1980s, he had founded the National Tennis Association for the Disabled and the international Lichtenberg Buick-Mazda wheelchair tournament. He became the USTA’s first wheelchair committee chairman, and one of five people appointed — and the only American — to serve on the International Tennis Federation wheelchair committee.

Dan also started a tennis program at Point Set for children afflicted with multiple sclerosis. Last May he accepted the "innovative tennis program of the year" award for his efforts from the Long Island Tennis Association.                     

Danny’s brother Jim, remembered a 1962 incident involving Danny when he was playing tennis on scholarship at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas. Acting officially in his role as president of the student government, he sent a congratulatory telegram to James Meredith, the first African-American to be accepted into the University of Mississippi. When his gesture showed up in local newspapers, he received death threats from the Ku Klux Klan and 20 classmates stood guard outside his dormitory room.

  “I’m a rebel if there’s a cause,” Danny always said. “I’ve spent most of my life trying to eliminate prejudice of any kind; it’s the biggest waste of human energy.”

  In an interview before his death, Jim described him as a compassionate man. “He could have made more money when he graduated from college, but he went back to teach at Holy Cross to repay them for helping him get a scholarship," Jim said. "He’s the champion of those who need a break. He’ll push them forward. It doesn’t always work but he never gives up. He follows through.”