An all round athlete and avid sportsman, John Moyer of Waterloo enjoyed fame not only in five pin bowling but also baseball and golf.

A native of Waterloo, John bowled for forty four years in the Inter City League, the most prestigious league in Kitchener-Waterloo and the western Ontario area. As the dominant bowler in the area, John officially opened Waterloo Lanes in 1949 and bowled on several championships teams from that centre with teammates such as Frank Laughlin, Jack Dahmer, Chummy Hartlieb and Wilf Hilliard, a gentleman who would later become the Mayor of Waterloo.

Bowling at the Carlings tournament in 1954, Johnny led his team to a record 4326 score. John led with a 1003 triple followed by George Yorke 967, Hall of Famer Bob Totzke 855 and Bob Homeyer 636.

The 1958 season was most memorable as John won both the O’Connor Open and the Canadian Singles Championship. More than 1,00 spectators jammed O’Connor Bowl for the Eastern Canadian championships and, in the five game final, John and Bill Sparrow of Toronto rolled identical 1487 five game scores. A special playoff was held on Good Friday and John prevailed 1239 to Sparrows 1138. The Canadian championships were also held at O’Connor and John defeated John Aura of Kamloops, British Columbia 2614 to 432. In all, John’s average for these twenty pressure packed games was a phenomenal 267.

John returned to O’Connor for the O’Connor Open and John’s score of 2761 topped the event as he joined previous winners, Hall of Famer Jim Hoult and Gordie Brown of Oshawa.

John continued to win provincial championships and the 1961 team consisted of Moyer, George Yorke, Bob Totzke, Hal Reibel, Joe Sadowsky and Stan Fritz. John won high single honours with 440 and added a season’s high five of 1565. Their 1963 team rolled a high team score of 1712, only three pins under the highest team game ever recorded.

But bowling was only one of several sports at which Johnny excelled. In 1934 and 1935, John led his baseball team to the Intermediate B championships and the A Division title in 1936. In one game that year, John fanned twenty four batters against Paris. In 1939, major league baseball was revived in Waterloo and John and his teammates which included NHL’s Boston Bruins stars Bob Bauer and Milt Schmidt, led their Waterloo Tigers to the playoffs. John pitched tow consecutive victories in the first round and three more in the final against Kitchener. Ultimately, in the provincial final against Port Credit, John tossed a no-hitter and actually continued to pitch 16 consecutive hitless innings as Waterloo won in five games. In all, he struck out 71 batters in the playoffs and 217 over the season. John also pitched a second championship season during his war service with the Royal Canadian Engineers. The final series against Hamilton was played at the old Maple Lead Stadium in Toronto. The losing pitcher for Hamilton was Dick Fowler, who would later throw a no-hitter for the Philadelphia Athletics of Major League Baseball.

John also dabbled in golf, an activity he didn’t begin until he reached fifty. However, at Elmira, he did have a hole-in-one.

John married Isabell Eadie in 1951, and she traveled with him and enjoyed his bowling and baseball accomplishments. John passed away on May 6, 1987 and Isabelle is unable to be with us tonight as she battles Lou Gerhig’s Disease in the Freeport Nursing Home in Kitchener.

John was inducted to the Waterloo County Hall of Fame in 1974 and a plaque in his honour is displayed at Doon Pioneer Village.