Started in bowling when her husband Bill gave her a pair of bowling shoes in 1942. Shirley Bedell rose to become one of Hamilton’s greatest bowlers and ultimately won the Canadian singles championship in 1965.

In the Hamilton area, Shirley followed the high championship standards set by Hall of Famer Vera Ward. On the Bardon #1 team in the Niagara District Ladies League. Shirley joined with Vera and Helen McCallum, Fran Murray, Del Pintwala, Pat MacNeil, Mabel Williams and Midge Fox and won the championship twelve times in thirteen years 1959-1971. This team capped their domination in 1973 as they won the Ontario Ladies five pin championships, first beating six teams and one from western Ontario.

Shirley reached the pinnacle of her career in 1965 when she won the Ontario and Canadian Open singles championships. The 1965 event was the first one conducted by the Ontario Bowlers’ Congress. The Canadian champions were held in the annex of the Kitchener auditorium and, in the 10-game final, Shirley defeated Jeannette Neuberger of Lethbridge, Alberta, with a 2486 score.

With Shirley at the top of her game, the beginning of the Master Bowlers in 1964 was the ideal place to display her talents. She won the very first tournament in 1964 and with the win traveled to the Pacific National Exhibition with the men’s champion, Ernie Roggie. She repeated this win the following year, this time heading west with Dave Homan. In 1965-66, Shirley also won the MBA Aggregate championship. This win preceded the beginning of the current MBAC championships. However, Shirley did win a gold medal at the Masters nationals with the Ontario ladies team who were victorious in 1973 in Calgary. In dominating the Masters, Shirley was the first lady to win five events and also takes pride in bowling in the Masters and the Open with here son, Tyrone.

As with so many of the top bowlers of the day, Shirley enjoyed traveling to all event tournaments in Collingwood, Peterborough, Waterloo, Oshawa and Scarborough. At the same time, Shirley also gave her time to the organizational side of bowling on the Hamilton MBA and OBC executives.

Today, Shirley and Bill still live in Hamilton, and most recently she has returned to her RNA profession. They have two grandchildren, Nicole and Aimee, both avid YBC members.