A native of Toronto, Duke Brooks was an outstanding bowler who excelled in the major leagues from the beginning of organized bowling in 1925. Duke was a contemporary of Bill Strong, who was inducted to the Legends Division of our Hall of Fame in 1991.

Along with Bill, Duke was a member of the prestigious Peoples Credit Jewellers Team. This much-celebrated group included other Hall of Famers such as Eddie Hawkes, Charles Demelis and Red McQuaker and also Herb Donaldson and Art Gore. This team won the City Championships several times and dominated league play in the Saturday afternoon Toronto City Major League, easily the most prestigious league of its day.

Although several veteran bowlers place Eddie Hawkes as the premier player of the first fifty years of our sport, it is said that Duke was just behind the Peoples Credit Jewellers Captain. To reach this status, Duke was a Provincial Team Champion under the Canadian Bowlers’ Association (CBA) banner in 1932, 1934 and 1949. The 1932 team included Hall of Famer Jake Smith and along with Duke were Harry Cockrell, Bill Cornish and George Ivals. Two years later, Duke’s teammates included Harry Cockrell again and new members Bill Adams, Charlie Goodfellow and Jim Robinson.

Also in the Toronto City Major League, Duke, in 1948, won the Triple Crown, that is the High Average, Singles and Team Championship, a feat only achieved on this one occasion. Duke continued his bowling until the early fifties and, near the end of his career, bowled on the Peoples Credit Jewellers team with another Hall of Famer, Jake Hellewell.

These accomplishments undoubtedly place Eric Brooks firmly in our Legends category.