A native of Hamilton, Irene Witley rose from humble beginnings in afternoon ladies leagues at the Wintergarden Alleys in 1954 to win five provincial titles and five national championships.

With an athletic background in basketball and on a Hamilton city team, The Golden Girls, Irene took to the bowling lanes immediately. As youth bowling programs began with the development of the automatic pinsetter in the late fifties, Irene was one of the first coaches.

Her YBC involvement began at Bol-O-Drome and continued at Westdale, Bar Don and Sherwood. She coached many teams and personally tutored three of Hamilton’s top bowlers, Mike Bates, Sharon Marlor and Janice Askin.

With the beginning of the Hamilton Bowlers’ Association in 1963, Irene was the house representative from the Wintergarden until 1966. Irene then joined the board of the Hamilton Association and was the awards chairperson for six years. In all, Irene was involved for twenty-four years. Irene was an integral part of Hamilton’s success as the zone won provincial honours in 1967 under another of tonight’s honorees, Ken Edge, in 1980 and 1982 with her husband Arnold at the helm, and 1987 and 988 with president Anne Depew.

On the lanes, Irene had true Hall of Fame numbers. At the major league level, Irene was a member of one of two powerful Bar Don Lanes Ladies teams in the Niagara Pro League with Hall of Famers Ev Woods and Edna Rimmer and Claire Stringer, Bea Smith, Doris Whitehouse and Marg Duerkson.

At the Open, Irene qualified eighteen times consisting of seven times on the mixed team and eleven times on the ladies team. In addition, Irene was the singles representative twice and also coached on seven different occasions.

Three Hamilton ladies teams, 1976, 1983 and 1988, and the 1984 Hamilton mixed team advanced from the Ontario Open to win national titles. In Regina in 1976, the team of Irene, Pat McNeil, Jan Walker, Pat Mahoney, Sue Davies and coach Bob Coulter averaged 1217 as they won eight games in the ten game event and out-scored all teams at the event. In addition, Irene averaged 253 and Ev Wood 252 and both were named to the All Star team.

The 1983 ladies team dominated in Thunder Bay with a record breaking performance. A teammate of Irene on this team was another of tonight’s honorees Betty Jones. In addition, Pat McNeil, Sue Davies and Pat Mahoney were returnees from 1976 along with Sharron Worron and coach Gerry McNeil

In 1988 at Hull, Quebec, Irene switched to coaching and she steered long time teammate Sue Davies along with Josie Tuck, Cheryl Bates, Connie Creher, Darlene Wolfe and Pam Secula to national honours.

Irene also won the Canadian championship with the Hamilton mixed team in 1984. Bowling in Saskatoon, the team of Irene, Hall of Famer Lloyd Orerod, Ian Wilson, Pat Mahoney, Mike Bates, Tom Patterson and Nancy Lloyd won 19 of 21 games to overwhelm the opposition. The team was coached by John Conti, who at 21, was the youngest coach in the history of the national championships.

Irene was also a star in the Master Bowlers Association. Her lone victory came in the 1974 Oktoberfest Classic and that same season, Irene won another national tittle as the Ontario tournament ladies team of Hall of Famers, Millie Evans and June Gregg along with Irene, Pat Millard and Jo Feick, won the Canadian championship.

Irene also excelled in league play. In 1983, Irene rolled a Hamilton high triple of 1069 at Bar Don Lanes and, that same year, Irene’s average reached 256. In 1980, Irene bowled an opening 448 single at Bar Don, and overall, she has 2-1000 triples, 12-900 triples and 3-400 games.

Irene and Arnold, her husband of 45 years, raise three boys, Gord, Glen and Greg and all three enjoyed bowling while living in the Hamilton area.

Today, both Irene and Arnold are enjoying retirement commuting between Hamilton and Florida. Together they can look back on a bowling career that was exciting on the lanes and, at forty seven volunteer years at the provincial level and sixty years at the zone level, is the highest of any couple in the history of our sport.