Hall Of Fame Inductee

June Davison

Inducted into: Player Division in 2005

Location: London

  • Player

June Davison was introduced to 5 pin bowling through her husband, Tom, who originally set pins at Mitton St. Bowl in Sarnia and then bowled on company teams through his employer, Imperial Oil. June had moved to Sarnia in 1940, when the family farm, located in Wyoming, was sold. After high school, June joined Bell Telephone and following her marriage to Tom in 1947, her bowling career was on its way. Her bowling talents were honed in Sarnia and she excelled in the local leagues before organized bowling introduced province-wide competition to the area.

In 1962, June was the singles representative for Western Ontario in the Eastern Canada Championships that were, at that time, conducted by the Bowling Proprietors Association of Ontario. In addition, June also bowled at the Sportsmen's Show, which, for a time, constructed regulation bowling lanes to showcase the best bowlers in the province in annual competition.

When the Open arrived in 1965, June became a constant presence and represented London, Mid-Elgin and the combined zone of Middlesex Elgin. Overall, June qualified thirty one times and coached on these occasions to cover every year from 1966 to 1997. As well, she was the singles representative sixteen times and only Hall of Famer, Sue Wanklin of Tri County, has a better qualifying record.

The Master Bowlers Association of Ontario began in 1964 and June was a charter member from Mitton St. Bowl. In that first year, each bowling centre was only allowed one female and one male bowler and June joined Jack Isum as centre representatives. Provincially, June won four events including the 1969 Double Knockout Tournament, the 1972 Year End Tournament and also the singles and team event in the 1979 Master Bantam Tournament. With the beginning of the MBA seniors program, June was an avid participant and qualified for the MBAC Nationals in Oshawa in 1993.

June was dominant in the local tournaments as well and in 1971, won the City of London single championships. She bowled on several inter-city teams representing Bowl-A-Rama Lanes in London. While enjoying this success on the lanes, June also became a coach and among others, guided London youth bowler, Bryan Campbell, to a national title. In addition, June became certified at Level Two under the National Coaching Certification program and not only coached throughout the Youth Bowling Council program, but also coached in the annual Sun Bowl Tournament as conducted by the Ontario 5 Pin Bowlers Association and finished in the runner-up position in 1985.

June also played a major role in organizing the bowler's in Western Ontario. The first meeting was actually held at June's home when the Sarnia zone organized in 1966 under the leadership of Eric Wood. The following year, June and Tom became proprietors of Sports Bowl in Lambeth and the family moved to the London suburb. June was the proprietor for eight years and during that time she built strong Youth Bowling Council program. Following Sports Bowl, June was program director for the YBC at Roll-A-Bowl in London for one year and then coached at Fleetway until her retirement in 2001.

At the volunteer level, June worked with London, then Mid Elgin and finally with the combined zone of Middlesex Elgin and, in 2005, the Ontario 5 Pin Bowlers recognized her volunteer service that has covered thirty five years.

June and Tom have four children and now two grandchildren, Patrick and Lisa, who are both at University. June continues to bowl once a week and also uses her keen eyes to excel at darts and was club champion in 2003 and participated at the provincial level. June has been recognized by the Byron Optomist Club for her dedication to coaching and her bowling peers placed her in fifty-seventh position on the Top 90 list for bowlers of the twentieth century.