October 11, 2008
Area tennis coach Jungle dies at 73
By GLENN MILLER
For nearly 30 years, Hank Jungle was a fixture on the Southwest Florida tennis scene. Jungle, 73, died Thursday morning in his sleep at his Fort Myers home.
"A very sad moment for tennis in Fort Myers," said Oliver Stenger, owner of Park Meadow Tennis Club in Fort Myers. "Everybody knew him."
Jungle died on a sofa.
"It was very peaceful," said Pat Jungle, Hank's wife of 49 years.
Jungle was the tennis director at Cypress Lake Country Club in recent years. He was on the courts there at 4 p.m. Wednesday giving lessons.
Jungle was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1999.
"It had spread to his bones," Pat Jungle said.
Yet, he was able to give lessons until the day before he died.
"He was still able to function," Pat Jungle said.
Hank Jungle, who served 20 years in the Air Force and retired as a lieutenant colonel, started the Bush Open, a successful Fort Myers youth tennis tournament that brought in top junior players from around the nation and even some international competitors.
One of the players Jungle coached was Tim Gullikson, who became a top pro and coached Pete Sampras, and died from brain cancer in 1995 at the age of 44. They met when Jungle was an Air Force major residing in Dayton, Ohio. Jungle was the nation's No. 2-ranked player player in the 35-plus age division. Gullikson was 21.
Jungle's nickname was the Colonel.
After Gullikson's funeral, Jungle talked to Sampras and said, "Pete you don't know me, but. ... Sampras cut him off and said, 'You're the Colonel, aren't you?' "
Jungle also coached another top pro, Johan Kriek, who reached the U.S. Open quarterfinals in 1978 and 1979, and the 1980 semifinals. He lost a five-set match to Bjorn Borg in 1980.
"Hank was the drill sergeant I needed to have,'' Kriek told The News-Press in 2000. "I've always needed someone to strong-arm me. I was a loose cannon. I was strong mentally, but I also was pretty much a maniac, a Jekyll and Hyde. I needed a stern guide not just technically. And that's a hard thing. You can't kill the line and douse the fire, but you have to keep the edge on."
"He's a great friend and that was very important because there's a delicate balance between being a friend and being a schlep (ineffectual)."
Jungle was born in New Orleans in 1935 and played tennis at Tulane University. He didn't grow up in the stereotypical high-income tennis family.
"I was not quite the other side of the tracks," Jungle said in 2000. "My dad used to drive a truck, but we didn't have a car until I was older.''
He was a top junior player. While in the Air Force, Jungle played tennis legend Arthur Ashe in a tournament and took him to three sets before losing. Jungle and his wife moved to Fort Myers in 1980.
His tennis resume included serving as a volunteer men's coach at Florida Gulf Coast University.
To Lindsay Wilt of Fort Myers, he was more than just a coach.
"He taught me about life and when I was playing with him my father passed away and he helped me through my hard times," said Wilt, 26, who started training with Jungle when she was 12. "He taught me never to give up on anything and to follow my dreams."
"There's a lot of people out there that he touched. He's a legend."
No funeral is planned. Pat Jungle said a memorial will be held. No time or location has been set.
Hank Jungle always enjoyed coaching, whether with pros or amateurs, whether it was juniors or seniors.
"My ultimate reward is when people come to me, they have goals and I help them reach their goals," Jungle said in 2000. "You see it in their eyes. That's my turn-on."