ST. LOUIS Dick Weber, one of bowling s first national stars and a three-time bowler of the year, died. He was 75.
Weber won the PBA Tour events in Toledo 1971 and 1973.
He died Sunday night in his sleep at his home in the St. Louis area, said Steve James, retired executive director of the American Bowling Congress Hall of Fame. A cause of death was not immediately known.
Weber had just returned from the opening of the congress championships in Baton Rouge, La. James said he spent Sunday morning with Weber, who gave no indication he was ill.
In an e-mail to the Bowlers Journal, Weber s wife, Juanita, said Weber began having breathing problems Sunday night. Paramedics were unable to revive him.
He was a lot bigger than the tour, James said yesterday. He was probably the best-known bowler worldwide.
Weber was one of bowling s first national TV stars, at a time when ABC broadcast bowling events on Saturday afternoons. He initially drew attention as a member of the Budweisers, a five-member St. Louis bowling team that held the record for highest team score for decades.
In 1958, he was a founding member of the Professional Bowlers Association, and he went on to win 26 PBA Tour events and six Senior Tour events. He was national bowler of the year three times, in 1961, 1963 and 1965.
He was a very distinguished spokesman for bowling, and a great bowler himself, said former Blade sports writer Hal Shanahan, who covered bowling for The Blade for more than 20 years.
Darrell Ducat, who owns Imperial Lanes where the PBA National Championship was held here in Toledo for 20 years, said Weber was an ambassador for the sport of bowling.
He was a gentleman, Ducat said. He did more for bowling than any one guy.
Ducat said he was a personal friend of Weber s but had not talked to him in over a year and was surprised to learn of his death.
From what I knew from Pete [Dick s son] he was healthy and still bowling, Ducat said.
Ducat said Weber was the greatest bowler in PBA history until Earl Anthony joined the tour.
Dick won so many tournaments on so many different conditions, he said. Everyone wanted to watch him whether he was bowling good or bad. I would say over the years he was the favorite here in Toledo.
Ducat recalled personally drilling the ball that Weber used to win the Buckeye Open Tournament in Toledo in 1971.
I got up in the middle of the night and drilled that ball at about 4 in the morning, he said. Dick ended up shooting 266 and 254 and he won the tournament.
Everyone loved Dick Weber, Ducat said. He was a wonderful guy.
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.
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 the Budweisers. The team, which included Ray Bluth, Don Carter, Pat Patterson and Tom Hennessey, had a record of 3,858 pins in one match that stood for more than three decades.
His son, Pete, is second on the career PBA money list. Both father and son are members of the PBA Hall of Fame. Dick Weber was 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 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.
Survivors, in addition to his wife and son Pete, include two other sons and a daughter.
First Published February 15, 2005, 12:14 p.m.
