For the past fifty years, Ron Roeder has been a dominant figure in five pin bowling. Beginning as a pin boy at Waterloo Lanes, this group also had their own league to recognize these hard-working youngsters who were necessary for the success of the bowling business.

As Ron was being introduced to bowling, the sport was organizing in Kitchener/Waterloo under the leadership of Hall of Famers Walter Valentan and Orv Bauman. Ron was excited about this formation process and was a ready volunteer. At just sixteen years of age, Ron was the House Representative for Waterloo Lanes to the newly formed Kitchener and District zone and just two years later, he became Program Director for the Youth Bowling Council (YBC). Not only did he run the program, Ron also became the YBC Zone Representative for the young zone as well.

Moreover, Ron has been a perennial visitor to the annual meeting of the Ontario 5 Pin Bowlers’ Association. As early as 1974, Ron was recognized as the Lane Certification Agent of the Year and he again won this award in 1979 and 1982. He was recognized as Proprietor of the Year in 1990, and in 2009 and 2011, Ron has been recognized as DC Tournament Director of the year. To this day, he continues to contribute to the success of 5 pin bowling at the local level.

Academically, Ron followed his high school education by enrolling at Conestoga College and in 1974, he graduated as a “Construction Technologist“ and accepted a position with Don Riehl Construction. While Ron thought he wanted to work with a larger company, this placement became extremely positive and would become the solid foundation for Ron’s career. Specifically, in 1979, Ron was part of the group that formed a new company, Nith Valley Construction.

Ron advanced through the new company and Ron became a full partner of the company that today has yearly sales of approximately twenty-three million dollars. Moreover, this success allowed Ron to influence his partners at Nith Valley to sponsor in 5 pin bowling. For more than twenty years, both the Ontario 5 Pin Bowlers’ Association (O5PBA) and the Master Bowlers’ Association of Ontario (MBAO) were recipients of over seventy thousand dollars.

As well, with both the O5PBA and the MBAO, Ron took his bowling ability to shine on the lanes as well. As early as 1974, Ron won the prestigious O’Connor Open defeating Hall of Famer, Fraser Hambly, in the ten game tournament. In the MBAO, Ron was a zone representative and also bowled in the tournament division for ten years. He was a tournament winner, capturing the mixed triples event while partnering with Brian Stiver and Hall of Famer, Ev Wood. Under the banner of the O5PBA, Ron has qualified for the Open seven times as a bowler and he has coached on twenty-three occasions. This thirty year involvement began by qualifying for the zone men’s team in 1970 and continues to this day. Also, Ron used his bowling expertise and coaching certification to initially offer instruction clinics at Waterloo Lanes and ultimately coached several teams from the centre as well as being a popular Open choice.

In another major event, Ron, along with his brother, Gerry, purchased Waterloo Lanes in 1985 and for thirty years, the centre continued to be the focal point of bowling in the Conestoga and eventually, Grand River zone. However, Ron and Gerry did not own the land and the landlord chose to re-develop the site as a condominium.

While Ron receives this honour, he was supported by four brothers. An older brother, Doug, eventually joined Ron at Nith Valley Construction. Dave, Gerry and the youngest, Paul, were all excellent bowlers and prominent on the local, provincial and national scene. As well, Ron married Bev Heimpel in 1975 and, together, they raised three girls, Angela, Jessica, and Krista and Ron and Bev are proud grandparents of three youngsters.

On the lanes, Ron is looking at rejoining the senior Masters. As well, he continues to bowl in major leagues at both Victoria and Towne Bowl and a social league with his wife every second Friday at Towne Bowl, as well as entering all events run by the O5PBA.

Like the five-tool baseball player, Ron has and can do it all. He is a Life Member of the O5PBA, has been recognized as a proprietor of the year and above all, continues to volunteer looking to reach fifty years and beyond.