Mervin Andrew Heller Jr. (June 10, 1947 - August 21, 2012) was a president of the

United States Tennis Association The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tenn ...

and completed his tenure in 2002. He began with the USTA in 1974 as President of the

Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley () is a geography, geographic and urban area, metropolitan region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh and Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a co ...

District

Tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

Association. In 1991, he was first elected to the

USTA The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national Sport governing body, governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and devel ...

Board of Directors, serving as its Secretary/Treasurer in 1993-1994. Then, in 1999, he became Vice President. Heller was involved in various functions of the

. He was Chairman of the Strategic Planning Committee, the Individual Membership Committee and Constitution and Rules Committee. He was also a member of the Nominating Committee, Budget and Finance Committee, Long-Range Planning Committee and Executive Committee. Heller was a President, Vice President and Section Delegate of

Middles States Section. He was given the

Middle States Mangen Award for service to Middle States tennis in 1991. In 1998, Heller was inducted into the

Middle States Hall of Fame. In 1992, Heller established the Berks County

Association (BCTA), a community tennis association serving his hometown of

Reading, PA Reading ( ; ) is a city in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 95,112 at the 2020 census and is the fourth-most populous city in Pennsylvania after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Allento ...

, as well as the surrounding communities. In 1999, the ''Reading Eagle-Times'' newspaper recognized him as one of the 50 most influential sports figures over the past 50 years in Berks County,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Heller graduated from East Stroudsburg State University (ESU). He played on the school's

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

team and went undefeated in conferences matches for his entire four years. Upon graduation, he held the school record for career wins in singles and doubles. In 1990, Heller was inducted into the ESU Athletic Hall of Fame. In 2010, Heller was recognized by his alma mater with the Helen G. Brown Award. This award is presented by the ESU Alumni Association to its most notable and successful alumni for their lifelong accomplishments. Heller went on to receive his law degree from the

University of Pittsburgh School of Law The University of Pittsburgh School of Law (Pitt Law) is the law school of the University of Pittsburgh, a public research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1895 and became a charter member of the Association of American ...

and currently was partner in the law firm of Leisawitz Heller Abramowitch Phillips, P.C. Heller served for over ten years on the Board of Directors and as legal counsel for the Berks County Chamber of Commerce which has a membership of over 2,100 businesses in Berks County. He was a Chairman, and Finance Chairman, of the Berks County Republican Party. Heller, 65, died from cancer on Tuesday, August 21, 2012.WFMZ-TV obituary
In 2014, the Berks County Tennis Association named the Merv Heller Memorial Scholarship in Merv's honor, awarding a $1,000 scholarship to one male and one female high school senior that has shown outstanding qualities on the court, in the classroom and in the community. The annual award is presented at the Berks County Tennis Night of Champions Dinner and Awards ceremony, held each June at the Hits for Hope Tennis Tournament.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heller, Mervin Jr. Sportspeople from Reading, Pennsylvania 2012 deaths Presidents of the United States Tennis Association 1947 births