Emmett Dowling
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Ohio. They did not win the doubles team crown, but their performance remains the furthest a Latin tennis doubles team has ever advanced in the Ohio High School Men’s Tournament. Emmett’s tennis experience at Latin laid the foundation for his involvement in this sport for the rest of his life. Not only did Emmett continue playing tennis, but in the 60s, as an active and influential member of the Cleveland community, he was very instrumental in bringing tennis’s prestigious international team competition, the Davis Cup, to Cleveland, Ohio. He was close friends with Bob Malaga ’45 and worked closely with him to successfully achieve this goal. For example, several international tennis stars stayed at Emmett’s house in Cleveland Heights to help facilitate their competing at the newly built state-of-the-art Harold T. Clark tennis courts at Roxboro School where the Davis Cup matches were played. Emmett served as the head referee during multiple Davis Cup competitions. As the head referee, he sat on the court just below the referee and served as the moderator and judge who had the final word in any and all disputes. His ability to speak Spanish made him a natural to be the moderator when the Mexican Davis Cup team came to town. After graduating from Cathedral Latin, Emmett attended Western Reserve undergraduate and law school. Upon graduation, he worked a few years for a local law firm. After that, he served as an agent in the FBI. It was during this time that he met his wife, Eileen Tyler. They had six children – Emmett III “Pat”, Brian, Dennis, Chris, Mike and Kelly. Upon leaving the FBI, he was hired by Youngstown Steel Door, a company which he became president of at the young age of 39. He was then invited to be in the prestigious YPO (Young President’s Organization) – an international organization of presidents of multimillion-dollar businesses. During this time, he was very active in the Cleveland community, serving on a number of boards from the Cleveland Clinic to United Bolt and Screw, and Parkview Savings and Loan. At age 49, Emmett was diagnosed with leukemia and, tragically, died less than two months later. Emmett always spoke proudly of his days at Latin and the many important lessons he learned there. His kids always said that it seemed like Emmett knew everyone in town, which, undoubtedly, was based on the many friends he made at Latin. It was this experience at Latin that paved the way for Emmett to have such a successful career.
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