You may not recognize the name, Bill Hargrove, but what he did makes him unforgettable. Bill was a bowler. He fell in love with the sport in 1924, the same year Gershwin wrote Rhapsody in Blue. It was the game he turned to when he retired as a credit manager for Gulf Oil, and the game that helped him heal from the death of his wife in 1973. He never expected the game to vault him into the history books.
But at the age of 109, the United States Bowling Conference presented him with the distinction of “oldest league bowler in history.” He told the USBC that he attributed his firm grip on the ball to the years he spent shaking countless hands every week as a volunteer greeter at the Grace United Methodist Church in Atlanta.
He believed bowling kept him fit and kept him going, and he said it probably helped that he didn’t drink or smoke. Longevity runs in his family. His sister lived to be 105.
He was actually bowling when we interviewed him on the Growing Bolder Radio Show. He seldom missed a date and bowled a minimum of once a week. In the final year of his life his eyesight had begun to fail him. He said even though he could barely see the pins, he had no trouble remembering where they were!
Hargrove continued to bowl right up until his death of congestive heart failure in May, 2008, just four days shy of his 107th birthday. This interview is one of a very few that exist with a fascinating man who was a true reflection of what is possible in life.
Credit: Bill Hargrove, sports, recreation, bowling, team, fitness, health, condition.