Popular Fir State golf teacher Ponder dies
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Wilbert Ponder, who taught hundreds of inner-city Seattle children to golf, died Sunday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He was 86.
Ponder, who had wintered in Florida for several years, was a founding member of the Fir State Golf Club in 1947, which remains Seattle's main golf association for minority golfers.
When Fir State was founded, tournaments on Seattle's public courses were closed to minorities. Fir State helped change that policy by 1952. Ponder was a popular teacher for years at Fir State clinics for children; his major teaching tenet was "keep it simple."
As a young man, Ponder was a talented baseball player who competed in exhibitions against top Negro League teams. In his golfing prime, he was a scratch player but never had the opportunity to try for a spot on the PGA Tour because of the Caucasians-only clause in PGA membership.
"I don't know how good a golfer I could have been because I never had a chance to prove it," he told The Times in 1995.
Ponder moved to Seattle during World War II and operated a dry-cleaning establishment with his wife, Elizabeth, for decades. The couple wintered in Florida, their native state.
One of Ponder's prize students, Andia Winslow, is playing for Yale University.
"He became her grandfather," Andia's mother, Lynn, said yesterday. "They were as close as two people could be. He taught her about life, about being kind to other people and giving back. Their relationship was very spiritual after awhile. ... The loss to her was very hard. I had to tell her on the telephone. It was very difficult."
Ponder had been in failing health for years.
He is survived by his wife; sons Wilbert of Fort Lauderdale and Kenneth P. of Seattle, and daughter Diane Ponder Moreland of Seattle; a brother, Willie, in Georgia; and five grandchildren.
A funeral service will be held tomorrow in Fort Lauderdale. A memorial service will be held in Seattle in March, when Elizabeth Ponder returns from Florida.