By Brenna R. Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Betty Burbrink picked up a bowling ball at age 14 and didn't put it down for 80 years.

She even met her husband in a bowling alley.

And when Burbrink died last week at the age of 97, her numerous bowling records were still unbroken.

"She was one of the better bowlers in the Greater Cincinnati area," said Pat Burns, past president of the Greater Cincinnati Women's Bowling Association.

"She was kind of a pioneer," said Burns who nominated Burbrink for the association's Hall of Fame, which inducted Burbrink in 1989.

At 94, she was bowling three times a week, making her own clothes and walking two miles to church, said Marian Heeney, director of pastoral care at Carmel Manor nursing home in Fort Thomas, where Burbrink lived for the last two years.

Before moving in, Burbrink volunteered at the home for 12 years, keeping the residents company in the beauty shop and telling jokes.

"She had a joke for everything," Heeney said.

In a 1999 Enquirer story, Burbrink said that she stayed active because "I love to be around people."

That's probably why she continued to bowl for so long, said Burns, of Erlanger, who bowled with Burbrink at Walt's Center Bowling Lanes in Newport.

"I think it was the camaraderie with her friends," Burns said.

In her long career, Burbrink competed in 65 city bowling tournaments, 54 state championship tournaments and 43 national tournaments.

Into her early 90s, Burbrink still had a 162 bowling average.

"She just loved to do it," said Heeney, also a longtime friend. "She loved anything to do with sports."

After 80 years of bowling in the Cincinnati area, Burbrink was well known at bowling alleys.

"Betty was a fantastic person," said Glenn Schmidt, owner of LuRu Bowling Lanes. "There could be a foot of snow, she would always be here."

Burbrink was a fixture at the lanes in 1988, when he bought the Highland Heights bowling alley where Burbrink bowled every Wednesday with the Fort Thomas Ladies League.

"She threw a good ball," he said.

Friends say Burbrink was still averaging around 160 when she had to put down her ball and move to Carmel Manor after her heart weakened.

Burbrink was born on Christmas Day in Bethlehem in the Middle East. Her father died before she was born, and she came to the United States with her mother when she was 4. They settled in Cincinnati.

She and her husband, Albert, later moved to Fort Thomas. They had one son, Albert,, who lives in California.

At age 93, a reporter asked Burbrink the secret to her longevity.

"I try to watch my diet," she said. "I drink one cup of coffee. I don't smoke, I don't drink and I don't gamble."

E-mail Bkelly@enquirer.com