- Considered to be one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the sport of bowling.
- His son, Pete, is also a top PBA bowler. Both father and son are in the PBA Hall of Fame.
- Bowled a game once on board an airplane.
- Charter member of the PBA Hall of Fame.
- Professional bowler.
- Inducted into the American Bowling Congress Hall of Fame in 1970.
- Inducted into the Professional Bowlers Association Hall of Fame in 1975.
- Children: sons Peter, Richard, John; daughter Paula.
- He was a postal worker in Indianapolis whose fame as a top bowler grew to the point that, in 1955, he was invited to join the Budweisers team in St. Louis. The team, whose other members were Don Carter, Ray Bluth, Tom Hennessey, and Pat Patterson, dropped 3,858 pins in one match, a record which stood for more than three decades.
- In 1958, he helped create the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), and won 26 PBA Tour events as well as six Senior Tour events. He was one of bowling's first national stars, when the ABC network broadcast bowling tournaments on Saturday afternoons. He was national Bowler of the Year in 1961, 1963, and 1965.
- Filled in for Nelson Burton, Jr. on ABC telecasts whenever Burton would qualify for the finals of a tournament.
- Won ten of the first 21 PBA tournaments staged.
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