By Linda Milan and Karen Ronney
Annette Buck was an incredibly generous tennis advocate, organizer, leader and friend. She was always willing to lend a helping hand. She did not seek the limelight, rather preferred to shine her love and attention on others. After years of devoting herself to the sport of tennis and its community, Annette passed away on February 21, 2026, at age 82.
The Southern California Tennis Association Foundation celebrates her life and honors her legacy of helping others less fortunate than herself. She fought for fairness and advocated for those in need. Annette left a very generous financial gift to the SCTA Foundation, whose mission is to make tennis accessible to everyone regardless of age, ethnicity or economic means. We are forever grateful.
Our SCTA Foundation Executive Director, Linda Milan, was one of Annette’s closest friends and they worked together at USTA Southern California. In this story, Linda shares her personal memories with Annette.
There were so many memories shared by Linda Milan and Annette Buck. Their story started on the courts of the Warner Center Tennis Club. Every Saturday morning, a small group would gather to play a friendly round-robin event. Afterward, they would get lunch and inevitably find their way to small tennis shops to browse for clothing. Over time, this group expanded and took their rackets to the West Side, Calabasas and Malibu. They affectionately dubbed these weekly gatherings as the “Annette Buck Invitational.” Those days usually wrapped up with laughs over lunch at Don the Beachcomber, laying the foundation for a lifelong bond.
Annette was a woman of vibrant passions, and when she wasn’t on the tennis court, she was looking at the sky. Bird watching was one of her absolute favorite things to do.
“I was constantly amazed by the depth of her knowledge,” Linda said. “Annette didn’t just look at birds, she understood them. She kept meticulous journals, tracking every species she spotted.” Whether Annette was traveling for leisure or attending USTA Annual Meetings with her husband, Jim, she always carved out time to appreciate the local wildlife and log bird sightings in her cross-country travels.
An Adventurer in Life
Annette was eager to explore life. She joined Linda on a vacation to Australia and New Zealand when Linda’s husband, Allen, was unable to travel due to a business commitment. They went “mud bogging” through remote areas of New Zealand, and it was a wild adventure. They drove through thick mud to see the untouched countryside. In Australia, they visited Kangaroo Island, an open sanctuary where animals roamed freely. Annette also joined Linda in Hawaii for a week when Allen was producing a concert featuring an eclectic mix of jazz, rock and traditional Hawaiian music. She simply loved new experiences.
Concert Adventures
Linda and Annette shared a deep love for music, specifically, Joan Baez. They went to many of Baez’s concerts. One night, the pair saw her perform at the Wiltern Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. They parked in a nearby lot where attendants were collecting tickets. When they returned, however, the lot was filled with flashing red lights and police officers. It turned out the “attendants” did not actually own the lot. Channeling their inner outlaw spirit, the dynamic duo quickly escaped the chaos, jumped into their car, and drove away as fast as they could, laughing all the way home.
Annette’s generosity extended far beyond vacations, and she made Linda and Allen feel like family during holiday celebrations. As the oldest of seven children, Annette’s family gatherings were massive, lively and full of love.
From the Court to the Office: Partners at the SCTA
In 2005, their relationship took on a new dimension when Linda started working for the Southern California Tennis Association (SCTA). Since both lived in Woodland Hills just miles apart, they became commuting partners. For eleven incredible years, from 2005 to 2016, they shared the drive, the traffic and their lives.
To say Annette’s organizational skills were “off the charts” is an understatement. In the days before computers, Annette ran massive events completely by hand.
“I can still picture her spreadsheets because they were literally a yard long,” Linda said. “She tracked the progress of the matches manually, using a massive board with names, courts and times with tons of push pins. It was an incredibly challenging, tedious process, but Annette flawlessly executed it.”
Legendary Leadership
Annette was an unparalleled leader. She was meticulous, detail-oriented and deeply committed to fairness. When she ran the Southern California Intercollegiate Championships, she collaborated closely with legendary coaches like UCLA Men’s Coach Billy Martin and USC Men’s Coach Peter Smith. She obsessed over getting the seedings exactly right. Even though it was not an official NCAA event, she knew how much it mattered to college tennis. Each time there was a player change in the event, she would patiently sit down and redo the entire draw by hand. She cared about the players’ experience above all else.
Superior Customer Service
“No question was too small, and no hour was too late.” That was Annette’s philosophy as a tournament director. She would routinely take phone calls from stressed players or organizers at 11pm. Linda would often say, “Annette, it can wait until the morning!” But Annette would just smile and say, “I was up, and they needed help, so I’m happy to do it.” Annette had a unique gift for helping people through their crises right in the moment.
Player experience and fairness were her guiding lights. One summer, Annette ran the Senior Men’s North/South Challenge in Fresno. It was punishingly hot. Knowing the heat risks, Annette wanted the players to use a match tie-break instead of a grueling third set. The men were determined and insisted on playing the full third set. Annette listened to them, made sure they felt heard, and allowed them to play it their way—even though some later suffered from heat issues. She knew a better way to do things but valued others’ autonomy and voice.
A Woman with Solutions
Whenever a conflict arose, Annette was the ultimate problem solver. She would quietly listen to the facts from everyone involved, strip away the noise and find the heart of the issue. Then she engineered a compromise that left everyone feeling heard and respected.
Annette Buck was one of a kind. She was a force of nature, an adventurous explorer and a meticulous leader. Her positive influence on the tennis community has left a lasting impact that greatly contributed to the growth of the sport in Southern California and beyond.
“Annette was a fierce advocate for fairness, and above all, the truest friend I could have ever asked for,” Linda said. “The courts, the commutes and the world are infinitely brighter because she was in them.”
To learn more about Annette Buck’s impact on the Southern California tennis community, please read her story by USTA Southern California. CLICK HERE To donate to the SCTA Foundation and make a big impact on kids’ lives through the sport of tennis, CLICK HERE.
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About the Southern California Tennis Association Foundation:
We are a 501c3 nonprofit organization and is the charitable arm of USTA Southern California. The Foundation’s mission is to “Change lives and build communities through tennis.” Since 2020, the SCTA Foundation has had a community impact of giving over $1million in tennis grants and tennis scholarships to deserving youth, adults, tennis organizations, tennis facilities and tennis programs to make tennis an equal opportunity sport, accessible to all, regardless of age, ability, ethnicity, or economic background. Visit us on Social Media on Instagram and Facebook. To learn more about the SCTA Foundation go to: www.sctafoundation.org. To donate go to: sctafoundation.org/donate/.
