HENRI R.M. SALAUN ’49
HENRI R.M. SALAUN, 88, a professional squash player who was a four-time U.S. national squash champion, died June 4, 2014. At the age of 14, he and his mother fled France for England and then came to the United States. Always an excellent athlete and tennis player, he learned English and was accepted to Wesleyan where he joined Alpha Delta Phi and competed nationally in tennis and squash. After two years at Wesleyan before he was drafted into the U.S. Army and sent to Germany, where he served in Patton’s 3rd Army and was the sole survivor of a German ambush. When he was discharged he returned to Wesleyan and finished his studies, earning his degree with honors, while continuing his squash career. He won the first international U.S. Open of squash in 1954, won the U.S. championship four times, and won the Canadian Open eight times. He continued to play competitively into his 70s. A member of the inaugural class of the U.S. Squash Racquets Hall of Fame, he was also named to the first Wesleyan Athletics Hall of Fame class in 2008. He was the founder of Henri Salaun Sports, Inc., a sporting equipment company. Survivors include his wife, Emily Macy Salaun; two sons, including Georges V. Salaun ’85; and six grandchildren.