Nome Baker, who was recently included in  the Rossmoor Fitness Center Wall Of Fame has been playing tennis for over 85 years.  Yes, that means he’s certainly over 90 years old and still going strong.  But his life experiences outweigh his prowess on the tennis courts.  

From inspecting aircraft as a teenager during World War II to leading cutting-edge medical research, Nome has lived a remarkably multifaceted life. Now residing at Rossmoor, the 96-year-old renaissance man can look back on a brilliant career as a biochemist and physiology expert that took him around the globe.

Nome's work experience started at just 15 years old on the assembly lines of a wartime aircraft factory. But it was academia that became his true calling. After earning his doctorate in physiology, he joined the faculty at UCLA's prestigious medical school.

There, Nome served as a senior instructor in biochemistry while directing the metabolic research laboratory in the nuclear medicine department. His desire to constantly learn led him to take sabbaticals, studying in London, Rome, Munich, and the Woods Hole research center in Massachusetts.

Nome made sure to nurture his Renaissance man spirits outside the lab as well. The polymath is an avid bridge player, skier, golfer and guitarist who learned several foreign languages just for fun.

Nome's most cherished roles, however, have been as a husband, father to four children, and grandfather to eight grandkids.

As Chris Bang approaches his 90th birthday, the engines keep revving for this daredevil senior with a passion for speed. Whether tearing around a racetrack behind the wheel, sailing down ski slopes, or smashing tennis returns, Bang has operated his life in the fast lane.  The longtime Rossmoor resident has been playing competitive tennis for over two decades, most recently capturing third place in the community's Wild Card tournament. He's a mainstay on the men's team and casual club events.

Bang has been an avid participant in autocross and drag racing events over the years. He's restored more than 20 antique automobiles, including a 1941 Lincoln Continental that earned him Best in Show at the prestigious Pebble Beach Auto Show.

Not content to keep things earth-bound, Bang is also a licensed commercial pilot who loves taking to the skies. And if that's not enough, he added pickleball to his repertoire after retiring from a career at GTE and subsequent business ventures in real estate.

So what keeps this daring nonagenarian going full throttle?  He just keeps moving.

While many players pick up tennis as a leisurely hobby, Chris Christopher started playing tennis at age 30, The 91-year-old Rossmoor resident has amassed an astonishing 60-plus USTA tournament victories across the country.  His dogged determination paid major dividends. Christopher's collection bulges with a 3-inch thick file of newspaper clippings documenting his triumphs at USTA events, primarily in the singles division. The ace proved his mettle by not just beating players his own age, but also holding his own against college athletes decades younger.

When he was 45, he went to college and played on the varsity tennis team alongside 18-year-olds,  Christopher devoted countless hours honing his craft on the court while maintaining a full-time career as a real estate broker.

Even now, years after capturing his final tournament crown, Christopher's passion remains undiminished. Though his play has shifted to recreational rounds with friends and family, he still attacks each shot with the zeal of his glory days.  Keep a watch out for Chris at the next Wild Card tournament.  

Nome Baker

Chris Bang

Chris Christopher 

Shrey Trivedi, a new member of the Rossmoor Tennis Club, can frequently be found cruising around the many Tennis Club social events taking wonderful pictures .

Shrey was born and raised in India, in a medium-sized city called Lucknow - a historic, cultural and beautiful city which somehow never became too popular for tourism.  He moved close to Delhi to get a degree from a small college, and then moved to Los Angeles to get a masters in Mechanical Engineering at USC.  He also met his husband Stan while living in LA and later moved to England  where he got his  PhD in Mechanical/Aerospace engineering at the University of Cambridge.  In 2022 Shrey moved to the bay area to start a new job at Sandia National Labs as a postdoc/early career Scientist.

While living in Pleasanton, he and  Stan realized they sorely missed the community feeling they had  grown to love while living  in a small thatched cottage built in the early 1600s in England.   One day, they  visited a friend in Rossmoor and on that one day, talked to more people than they had done in over six months in Pleasanton. That was it! They  moved to Rossmoor a month later, around July 2023. 

Soon after his move to Rossmoor Shrey joined the Tennis Club and jumped into Eugenio's Wednesday clinic.  He did not have a racquet, but Eugenio lent him his own. That lesson was the beginning of Shrey’s love of the game.  He admits that the biggest draw to join the club were the weekly BBQs.  Son after Eugenio's clinic, he decided to try playing the game on regular basis and began with the Sunday drop-ins, and then joining the men’s team practice.  As a result, Shrey met many club members who provided encouragement and support.  

Shrey’s love of photography which has generated many pictures for the members of the club is his favorite hobby.  He loves taking pictures at the events - “it's the easiest way to sneak in to different tables and talk to more people, and enjoying the remarkable mix of people found in Rossmoor.” 

Traveling is also a favorite hobby, and Shrey has visited Europe many times as well as more than half the states in the US.  In fact, one of his first adventures in the US was a 2-month unlimited Greyhound bus pass where he  travelled to many different places, mostly on the eastern half of the country.  During this trip, he met many of pen pals he had made in the US over many years while living in India.

Shrey wrote a research paper on how a cough could spread COVID.  It was published in more than 120 periodicals and  became a blockbuster hit in the British and Indian newspapers including “The London Times”, “The Telegraph”, “India Today”.

Aside from tennis, photography and traveling, he also enjoys  table tennis, cooking,  tech gadgets, and entertaining.  Currently his scientific work itself is very enjoyable with Sandia providing a paycheck.

He is also very fond of hugs, so give him one the next time he takes your picture.

Left to Right:  Emily VanVleet, Richard Schulman, Mary Benin, David Hickey

Emily has been president of the Rossmoor Tennis club for the past year. She started playing tennis in her 50s and has loved  playing on the Rossmoor tennis courts. She enjoys travel and is looking forward to trips to New Zealand and France in April and May.  Richard is responsible for organizing the club's  tournaments    He has recently moved to Rossmoor after having lived in four different states and loves the weather here and the opportunity to play tennis, golf, and enjoy the outdoors all year long.   Mary, vice president of the club as well as team captain for the women's 65+ team, also serves on the East Bay Women's Tennis league board. She plays the cello in her free time and enjoys spending time with her two grandchildren in Oakland. David Hickey is in charge of facilities, which includes ensuring that the courts are in good shape, collecting used  tennis balls for the ball machine, amongst other duties.  He and his wife have visited 59 of the 64 national parks, enjoying the uniqueness of every park

It's here. A new platform. Not only a web site but also an app for your phone !

The web site has a lot of features, including news, information, an event calendar and a membership, all secured appropriately. A major step forward: you can renew online, pay online, sign up for events online and pay for them online (even though the club has fewer paid events).

In general we've tried to thin down the main pages while adding a reference library at the back for everything about running the club. (Bear with us, we still have to polish up a few parts of the new site).

BUT ... we think you'll mostly use the new the phone app instead as it is so convenient. The app has four sections:

You can find out more here.