WESTFIELD, Mass. - Westfield State University mourns the passing of retired tennis coach, instructor, and longtime Athletics Hall of Fame board member Loren 'Squire' Bressor, who passed away Saturday, October 28, 2017 in Suffield, Conn., at age 89.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, November 4 at 11:00 a.m. at the Simsbury (Conn.) United Methodist Church (799 Hopmeadow St.).

Bressor was named the Westfield State Athletics Hall of Fame's Hagan Award winner in the fall of 2015 for a lifetime of service to Westfield State.

Bressor served as Westfield State's tennis coach in the 1970s and was also an adjunct professor at the University.

He served on the Westfield State Hall of Fame committee for 20 years, and served as both Chairman of the committee and emcee of the dinner and induction ceremony. He was a strong supporter the Owl Club and participated in many of the Owl Club Golf Tournaments, the Westfield State athletics department's primary annual fundraising event.

A native of Northampton, Mass., and a longtime Granby, Conn., resident with his wife Carol, Bressor's athletic and community involvement is a record to regard.

Bressor graduated from the University of Vermont, and played as a touring tennis professional. He taught and coached at Vanderbilt University before coming back north, where he operated Squire's Tennis and Ski, a sporting goods store with shops in Granby, Conn. and Holyoke, Mass.

Education and community service remained important components to Squire's life. In addition to serving on Westfield State Athletic Hall of Fame committee, he was active with UMass by contributing to several boards, and served as a trustee and corporator of the Lyndon Institute in Vermont where he attended prep school.

Bressor stayed active well into his eighties, teaching tennis for many years, and competed in the senior Olympics and the Massachusetts State senior games, in such varied events as javelin, discus, shot put, tennis, badminton, cross country skiing and snowshoeing. He also conducted Squire's "College of Knowledge" and spoke to a variety of organizations on public health and sports science.

He was a director on the National Football Foundation's Western Mass. chapter, served as an official and judge at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics in cross country skiing, biathalon and ski jumping, and was involved with Granby's parks and rec department and active with local politics.

Bressor's smile, good humor, and dapper sense of style will be greatly missed by his fellow committee members and the Westfield State community.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial gifts be made to several of the organizations with which Squire was involved, including Westfield State athletics. Gifts may be made in honor of Loren "Squire" Bressor online by visiting westfieldalumni.org/make-a-gift or by mailing a check to Westfield State Foundation, PO Box 1630, Westfield, MA 01085. Please make checks payable to the Westfield State Foundation, Inc, and write "Squire Bressor Owl Athletics" in the memo of the check.