Al KUHN

1934 - 2017

KUHN, Al Alfred "Al" Richard Kuhn drew his last breath on July 14, 2017 at his home in Delray Beach, FL with his companion of over two decades, Victoire O'Donnell, at his side. Al was born in Chicago, IL on January 4, 1934. He graduated from Saint Nicolas Catholic School and Evanston High School. He attended Northwestern University in Evanston, IL on a full tennis scholarship and later attended Columbia University in New York where he was a Woodrow Wilson Scholar and received a doctorate in Russian language and literature. Al was a professor of Russian at Amherst College in Amherst, MA and at The University of Rochester in Rochester, NY. Al was also a veteran who served in Panama and later did intelligence work for the National Security Agency in Washington, DC. Both a scholar and an athlete, in 1949, Al was ranked #2 best junior tennis player in the nation for the 15 and Unders, and in 1951 and 1952 ranked #5 in the nation for the 18 and Unders. He was the Chicago District and Western Association's leading player from 1949-1952. Al played #1 singles for Northwestern University for 4 consecutive years and won the Big Ten Singles championship for Northwestern where a court has been named "The Al Kuhn Court" in honor of his winning record at Northwestern. In 1968 Al moved to Rochester, NY where he continued his lifelong passion for tennis. He won many local district and regional tennis tournaments and was the director of the tennis program at Oak Hill Country Club and a tennis instructor at Midtown Tennis Club. In July of 2014, Al was inducted into the Rochester Tennis Hall of Fame. He is survived by his daughter, Elizabeth (Kuhn) Belville, his son-in-law, J. Kevin Belville, MD and his six grandchildren: Ethan Alfred Belville, Colin James Belville, Spencer John Belville, Blake Gabriel Belville, Grant Michael Belville and Eve Marie Belville. Donations in honor of Al Kuhn may be made to the nonprofit organization, The Rochester Tennis Hall of Fame.