Dick Weber, 75, Champion Bowler
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Dick Weber, considered by many to be among the greatest bowlers ever and a three-time bowler of the year, died Sunday at his home near St. Louis. He was 75. The cause was not announced.
Weber had just returned from the opening of the American Bowling Congress championships in Baton Rouge, La.
Weber was one of bowling’s first national TV stars, at a time when ABC broadcast bowling events on Saturday afternoons.
“He’s well known and well loved,” said Jim Baltz, curator of the International Bowling Hall of Fame in St. Louis. “Everyone who knows him loves him. In competition, he’s been amazingly successful. I don’t think his contribution to the sport can be underestimated.”
Weber, a skinny right-hander, was a postal worker in Indianapolis with a growing reputation as a top bowler when he was lured to St. Louis in 1955 to bowl with a famous local team, the Budweisers. They featured other legendary bowlers, including Ray Bluth, Don Carter, Pat Patterson, and Tom Hennessey.
The Budweisers team record of 3,858 pins in one match stood for more than three decades.
When the PBA was formed in 1958, Weber was one of its first stars. He was the national bowler of the year in 1961, 1963, and 1965, and won 26 PBA events, and later won six senior PBA events.
James said the PBA succeeded largely because Weber and other members of the Budweisers agreed to participate. “That was the most fabled team of all time,” he said.
Weber’s son, Pete, is also one of the tour’s most successful bowlers ever and is second on the all-time PBA money list. Both father and son are members of the PBA Hall of Fame. Dick Weber is also a member of the American Bowling Congress Hall of Fame.
Pete Weber is the defending U.S. Open champion and was scheduled to participate in this year’s open, which began Sunday in North Brunswick, N.J. A PBA spokesman said Pete Weber dropped out of the tournament to return to St. Louis to be with his family.
PBA Tour Commissioner Fred Schreyer called Dick Weber “a great competitor and champion, and he was an outstanding ambassador for our sport. More importantly, Dick was a truly good, compassionate person who treated everyone like family.”
