For Franklin H. Crawford, the tennis court was a second home.

An avid player, Mr. Crawford started the tennis program at Armstrong High School, where he was a teacher for 37 years.

"He was the person that really got the program off the ground," said Randy Ashe, athletic director at Armstrong.

Mr. Crawford, who continued playing tennis until being hospitalized in April, died Friday in a Richmond hospital. He was 83.

A native of Richmond, Mr. Crawford, who served in the Army during World War II, graduated from Virginia Union University with a bachelor's degree in French. He then earned his master's degree in French education from Columbia University.

He joined the faculty at Armstrong in 1952 and taught there until retiring in 1989. In 1961, after receiving approval from the school's administration, Mr. Crawford took a dozen tennis balls and five students to form the school's tennis program.

"They weren't even conscious of what tennis was about," he said in a 1989 interview. "But they were good kids who wanted to learn, and they picked things up pretty fast."

That first year, the team didn't compete in organized play. Three years into the sport, Armstrong was the state runner-up in the all-black Virginia Inner-city Athletic League. In 1964, the high school won the state championship over Hampton's Phoenix High School

"That was a proud day for him, the students, the school -- everybody," said his wife, Charlotte Crawford of Richmond.

Mr. Crawford coached the Armstrong tennis team for 28 years. Outside of the school, tennis remained a big part of his life. He spent more than 20 years giving tennis lessons sponsored by the Richmond Parks and Recreation department during the summer.

He also played competitively in tournaments throughout Virginia and the mid-Atlantic region. He was consistently ranked in his age group.

"He was always a perfect gentleman on the court," said John Royster, who played tennis against Mr. Crawford for years. "He was never one to throw a racquet or bat balls out of the court. That was beyond him."

Even when Mr. Crawford and his wife took a trip to England, he made sure one of their stops was the hallowed grounds of the site of the Wimbledon championships.

In 1975, fellow Richmonder and tennis star Arthur Ashe Jr. became the first black man to win the men's singles tennis title at Wimbledon. In 2001, Mr. Crawford was interviewed by the ESPN Classic Sports Century series about the life of Ashe.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Crawford's survivors include a daughter, Robin Beale of Mechanicsville; and two grandchildren.

A funeral will be held Thursday at 1 p.m. at Ebenezer Baptist Church, 216 W. Leigh St. in Richmond. Burial will follow at Mount Olivet Cemetery in South Richmond.