Saturday, June 09, 2001
Bowler dies in his prime
When a bowler rolls a 300 game in a given year, the first ring is free. The one Mary Ann Hensley wears cost $75.
Her son, George, bowled 18 perfect games in his short, happy life, and they sometimes came in clusters. He earned his American Bowling Congress 300 ring for the year 2000 on Feb.2 in a Wednesday night league at Mason Bowl.
His mother's ring is dated Feb.15 and commemorates a Tuesday night at Ringo Lanes.
“I never got tired of watching him bowl,” Mary Ann Hensley said. “I was his No.1 fan. But he never, ever had a 300 when I was there. I don't know if he felt more pressure or what.”
Sometimes in life, hard answers are
elusive and we are stuck with speculation. George Hensley's survivors will always wonder why he neglected to buckle his seat belt on his way to work on May 21.
As their grief subsides, they may wonder, too, what kind of bowler he might have been.
"He was just blooming'
He died at 32, at the top of his game and still climbing. Many bowlers plateau when they marry and have children, but George Hensley kept getting better. The night before he rolledhis SUV, the left-handed Hensley rolled an 815 three-game series in Louisville. A year ago, he set Cincinnati's sanctioned scoring record with a 243 average.
“He was just blooming,” said Hall of Fame bowler Steve Fehr. “That last set he bowled may go down as the greatest final set of anybody's career ever.”
It was so good, in fact, that Hensley called his mother on the ride home to announce his scores. Mrs. Hensley, who teaches seventh and eighth grade at St. Aloysius in Saylor Park, has learned to expect good news when the phone rings late at night, and she could tell by her son's tone that he had done something extraordinary. Their last conversation would be a joyful one.
“I always called him my vain little boy,” Mrs. Hensley said. “He was proud of himself and he liked people to brag on him.”
She asked him why he had not solicited someone to nominate him for the Greater Cincinnati Bowling Association Hall of Fame.
He replied that he wanted to wait until his credentials were so strong that there would be no suspense about his selection.
Like most elite athletes, George Hensley started young in his chosen sport. But before his 10th birthday, his father despaired that the boy would “never make a bowler” because he didn't listen.
A father's pride
“When George was 12, his daddy came in beaming,” Mary Ann Hensley said. “He said, "My son did wonders today.' It was My son now. He had bowled his first 600 series.”
George H. Hensley died when his son was 14, so it fell to the mother to play chauffeur and coach. She drove him all over town to compete in juvenile traveling leagues, and she continued to show up when he was old enough to drive himself.
“He was so fluid, I just loved to watch him,” she said. “He used a lot of body English. He had this big leg swing — when you saw that leg going, you knew he was in the groove.”
George Hensley went to his grave in the groove. His last game was a 279 — 11 strikes and one spare.
“He was very excited,” teammate Glenn Meece said. “He was going to savor this for a while.”
E-mail tsullivan@enquirer.com. Past columns at Enquirer.com/columns/sullivan.
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SULLIVAN: Bowler dies in his prime
