November 11, 2007
— VA STATE USBC
WBA
has
learned that Bernice “Bea”
Bennie
(left), who is credited for establishing
Virginia State Women’s Bowling Associations
and the
Washington, D.C. Area WBA, died Saturday,
November 10, 2007. She is widely recognized for her
more than 60 years of service to women’s bowling at
the local, state, and national levels.
In the 1940s, Bennie’s involvement in bowling helped found the Washington, D.C. Area Women's Bowling Association (WDCAWBA). She is credited with helping to bring tenpin bowling to the Nation’s Capital Area. In those days, duckpin bowling prevailed locally. In 1947, Bennie and her husband, former American Bowling Congress president and Nation's Capital Area USBC Association Hall of Famer Matthew Bennie, purchased the area’s first certified tenpin bowling center in Alexandria. Over the next few years, many of the area’s duckpin bowling center owners began to see the popularity of tenpin bowling, and the area boomed with new bowling centers and sanctioned bowlers.
Bennie served bowling at every level, including as a league secretary. In 1953, she accepted a position as secretary of WDCAWBA. During her time as secretary, membership in her association skyrocketed from 278 members to more than 15,000 members in 1963. In 1957, she helped form the Virginia State WBA. Bennie’s work in bowling directly resulted in hundreds of thousands of women in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia becoming members of the Women's International Bowling Congress (WIBC).
In 1963, she accepted a position on the WIBC board of directors, which she fulfilled for more than 15 years. In 1979, Bennie was named a WIBC member emerita. At the national level, she also served as director of the American Junior Bowling Congress (later the Young American Bowling Alliance). Regionally, Bennie helped form what eventually became the Vir-Mar District YABA. Her local and state accomplishments include positions as a founder, director, and secretary/treasurer of WDCAWBA as well as a founder and vice president of the Virginia State WBA.
Until recently, Bennie, a member of the NCAUSBCA, Virginia State WBA, and USBC Halls of Fame, remained active with the local association.