LaVerne Carter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
July 30, 1925
LaVerne Carter | |
|---|---|
| Born | Laverne Thompson July 30, 1925 Brentwood, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | March 8, 2012 (aged 86) Florida, U.S. |
| Occupation | professional bowler |
| Spouse(s) | Bill Haverly, Don Carter (1953-1964) |
| Children | daughter Cayce (1950), son Jim (1954) |
LaVerne Carter (née Thompson; July 30, 1925 – March 8, 2012) was an American professional bowler.
Born in Brentwood, Missouri as Laverne Thompson, Carter moved to Tucson as a teenager, and ultimately to Los Angeles, where she acquired the nickname "The Blonde Bombshell" for her beauty and feisty antics on the lanes. In 1947, she began hosting an instructional and exhibition series known as "Bowl with Laverne", which was hosted by various bowling centers across the United States over the next seven years.[1]
Carter won several singles, doubles, and team tournaments between 1951 and 1974 for the various bowling organizations that existed then. Along with then-husband Don Carter, she was one of the founding members of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) in 1958, for which she was given the informal title of "The First Lady of the PBA", and she was one of the founding members of the Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) in 1960.[citation needed]
Awards
The Bowling Writers Association of America named her Bowler of the Year in 1964.[2] In that same year, she was named to the Women's All-American Team by Bowlers Journal. Carter was elected to the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Hall of Fame in 1977 and the PWBA Hall of Fame in 1995.[1]
