Cathy “Fitz” Castner and Mary Jo Eise are a formidable St. Louis Senior Olympics team. They won second place in pickleball doubles (60-64 age division) on May 1, and they were poised to medal in doubles table tennis on May 21. Castner and Eise have been friends since they were classmates at Mercy High School in University City. They may have inherited their competitive athleticism from their parents.

“My mom played table tennis in the Senior Olympics,” said Castner, who worked for years as a nurse at Missouri Baptist Medical Center. “She won a silver medal. My dad got a medal in horseshoes.”

Eise is a former Jewish Community Center Early Childhood Education staff member. She said her father Ken Eise was also a Senior Olympics regular, competing in multiple events. “He ran track, he did sprints, and he played golf,” Eise said. “We played in the 9-hole golf this year, too.”