Bob Falkenburg, Tennis Hall of Famer Entrepreneur, Dies at 95


In 1952, he established South America’s first fast food and ice cream stores in Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana neighborhood and named them Bob’s. Back in Southern California in 1970, when the Falkenburgs sold Bob’s to Nestlé’s Libby operation in 1974, his mini-chain consisted of about a dozen outlets. Bob has owned several properties since then and has grown to more than 1,000 outlets in Brazil. beyond South America.

Robert Falkenburg was born on January 29, 1926 in Manhattan and grew up in Los Angeles. His father, Eugene, who is an engineer, and his mother, Marguerite (Crooks) Falkenburg, played in amateur tennis events, and Bob started using rackets in private clubs when he was 10 years old.

He won a junior tennis tournament at Bel-Air Country Club in 1937 and won the US Interscholastic singles title in 1942 while at Fairfax High School in Los Angeles; she also teamed up with her brother to win the doubles title that year. He later became a good amateur golfer and won the Brazilian amateur championship three times.

II. After serving in the Army Air Force during World War II, Falkenburg won the University of Southern California intercollegiate singles and doubles championships in 1946.

In addition to his wife and daughter, he is survived by his son Robert, four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, according to the AP. Both Tex and Jinx (birth name Eugenia; her mother gave her the pseudonym) died in 2003.

Describing Falkenburg’s stunning comeback in the final set at Wimbledon in 1948, The New York Times said, “Wimbledon championship fans have seen much better tennis than today’s game, but rarely witnessed a more exciting game.”

As for Falkenburg’s serve, which finished 7-5, The Times described “a clear loud thump”.

“Bromwich stood straight as his serve ace was buzzed by him,” The Times reported. “A few minutes later, when the Duchess of Kent in the Royal Box presented the coveted trophy to Falkenburg, she looked as surprised as she was pleased.”



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