Douglas Peircemorton Semple

Mrs. Douglas Peirce Morton Semple died Tuesday at Jefferson Manor, following a stroke. She was 91. A lifelong Louisvillian and descendant of the Speed family, Douglas was born on Derby Day, May 19, 1923, the youngest of four children of Edward Davis Morton and Austine Barton Morton (Eddie, Sue, and Henrietta), all now deceased. She graduated from Collegiate and The University of Louisville, with a major in Art. Her thesis was on her great-grandfather, architect Henry Whitestone, best-known now for designing the signature clock tower of Louisville's City Hall.

During WWII Douglas worked at Purdue as an artist/designer for Curtiss-Wright Aircraft in service of the Department of Defense. A talented watercolorist, she became the first artist-in-residence at the Louisville Free Public Library under Director Skip Graham, creating many promotional posters and displays. An accomplished seamstress, she was Costumer for the old Louisville Children's Theatre, and later made hundreds of hand puppets and soft-sculpture marionettes for puppeteers and librarians across the country. She was also an unconscious knitter extraordinaire, capable of making multiple sweaters a day at her peak.

Outstanding tennis players, Douglas and sisters Sue and Henrietta were mainstays on the Louisville circuit, winning many championships from the 1930s to the 1950s, including the Falls City, as well as Club and Park tournaments. Once, classes at Collegiate were vacated by students who watched Douglas play an exhibition match with actress Katherine Hepburn at the old Armory. Douglas was nationally ranked and competed with three Wimbledon singles champions in her career. Her cousin, cartoonist Fontaine Fox (creator of the Toonerville Trolley strip) once caricatured her as "The Powerful Katrinka" in tribute to her mean forehand.

Douglas was a lifelong member of the Episcopal Church (St. Paul's and St. Andrew's). She held memberships in Pi Beta Phi, Junior League, Colonial Dames, St. Andrew's Sewing Group, and the Louisville Country Club.

Her longest and most important career was her 58-year marriage to Charlie Semple, and motherhood. Together they had three sons: Chuck (Susan) of Crestwood, Henry (of Arlington, VA), and Doug (Phylis) of Louisville; and four Grandchildren: Sam, Alex, Bennett, and Christine—all of whom hold her in loving memory.

Funeral service will be Friday, May 23 at 1:30pm at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Woodbourne at Ellerby, with visitation from 12:30pm until time of service at the Church. Burial will follow in Cave Hill Cemetery.