By Erica Quinones
News Editor
The Schottland Tennis Center’s entrance was filled with people gathered to remember the life and legacy of Washington College alumna Lindsay Tanton, class of 1988.
Tanton, who passed away on Jan. 15, was a member of the Shorewomen’s tennis team.
After the completion of the Lindsay Tanton Tennis Tournament at noon on Sept. 21, the Lindsay Tanton Memorial Garden was dedicated with words of love, laughter, and admiration.
Vice President of Advancement Susie Chase, class of 1990, attended WC with Tanton.
The spot is a “very special place where we can all stop and remember this great person,” Chase said.
There was more than one tennis alumnus lost this year. During the dedication, Chase held a moment of silence for both Tanton and WC Hall of Fame Tennis Player Claudio Gonzalez, class of 1987. Gonzalez passed away on Sept. 18.
Tanton was “an integral member of the College’s tennis program, helping to build the program to national prominence,” according to her dedication plaque.
She was known for her competitive nature, according to her coach, Holly Bramble.
Bramble, who met Tanton in the spring of 1987, recalled how Tanton raised her hand in the middle of a match to say that she did not think the score was correct. Other times, upon making a bad shot, Tanton would make a disgusted face, do a full pirouette on the court, and carry on.
No matter what hardships the team faced, Tanton was upbeat and encouraging. Even during her 1988 season, when the Shorewomen tennis team’s victories were stunted by a roster of only four players, she never lost her energy.
“Through thick and thin, Lindsay was the ultimate team player and leader,” Bramble said. “Every team should be lucky enough to have a Lindsay.”
In her personal life, Tanton’s partner of 25 years, Schaeffer Reese, said she had “an amazing capacity to make [people] feel comfortable,” but always downplayed herself.
She would joke that in her family, her sister Pamela Tanton got the writing abilities, sister Deidre Tanton got the artistic abilities, and she [Lindsay] got the tan, according to Reese.
Deidre Tanton, however, returned the same admiration for her sister as Lindsay held for her.
Tanton may have described her sister as the one with the artistic abilities, but Deidre Tanton said her sister was “the embodiment of original thought.”
She recalled how her sister created an original language with everyone she met, even dubbing them with new names.
“Everyone felt so flattered when they would get her language,” Deidre Tanton said. “Everyone was so proud of the name that she gave them and the language that they spoke, and no one was insulted, it is like they look back on it and it is a really happy moment that she would grace them with a name.”
The memorial garden, filled with flowers, a shady tree, and a plaque in dedication to Tanton, is located in front of the Schottland Tennis Center.
“The great thing about a garden is that it is different every season. It is constantly changing,” Reese said. “It is beautiful in the spring, it is mature in the summer, it is dormant in the winter, and that is the way Lindsay was.”