Remembering Pat Noble: His bowling skills exceeded even his eyesight

Pat Noble didn't bowl with his eyes closed, but some of his closest friends think he could have. The owner of 40 perfect games and seven 800 series, Noble, the former manager of Lafayette Lanes and Medina Lanes, died on Feb. 21 at the age of 79. Kind, generous and always quick with a joke or five, he left a great legacy on the lanes and off, including still averaging 200 late in his bowling career despite rapidly failing eyesight. "My dad (Ed Noble Jr.) and I used to call him the best blind bowler that ever lived," nephew Blake Noble said. "He couldn't drive anymore, but he still bowled. It got to the point where you had to tell him if there was a sleeper pin, but he bowled so much in his life that it was just muscle memory." Steve Sadowski, who knew Pat Noble for 55 years and frequently served as his chauffeur once Noble could no longer drive, backed up that claim. "He bowled for 15 years when he could barely see and still averaged 200," Sadowski said. "He was very competitive and very good. He was an I-want-to-kick-your-(butt) kind of guy. He thought every ball he threw was going to be a strike and he had a million bowling balls. He always thought that was the answer, and it was. In the early '90s, you couldn't touch him. He was that good." Noble, who had his PBA card from 1974-78, managed Medina Lanes from 1980-94. "He was a fierce competitor and loved the game," longtime friend Mike Henry said. "He cared about the bowlers. He always tried to make the shot equal for everybody, whether you bowled right-handed or left-handed. Whether you were 23 or 53, he tried to make it even for everybody." Though he loved to win, Noble's personality changed once he was off the lanes. Many years, he dressed up as Santa Claus at Medina Lanes. He also had a million jokes, some of them very funny, others not so much. "He had the dumbest jokes, but you laughed your (butt) off at them," Sadowski said. "He was very entertaining. He had more stories about more people than you'll ever imagine. He knew everybody and everybody loved him. If you go back 50 years and ask who the most popular and talented bowler was around here, he'd be in everybody's top three. "He was the most fierce competitor you'd ever see, and he wore his emotions on his sleeve. If he was doing good, you'd know it, and if he was doing bad, you knew it, but after a match he'd be the first one to congratulate other people." Noble bowled for many years in the Budweiser Masters League, which drafted competitors into the traveling circuit. With his uncle's backing, that's how Blake Noble joined the league as a 19-year-old. "My uncle taught me to bowl starting at age 9," Blake Noble said. "He always had time for me and was always very good to me. I ended up loving and enjoying the game, and he was a very, very big part of that throughout my youth and especially in adult leagues." Blake Noble bowled against his uncle in the Budweiser Masters League and with him on Wednesday nights at Medina Lanes, as well as in doubles tournaments. "The funny side of me wants to say he was lucky," he said. "He was very competitive. It was his life. He gave everything to it. His friends, his conversations, what he did, it had something to do with bowling. It was a good time for him. "If he wasn't telling a joke or trying to be funny or just plain stupid, you'd know something was wrong. He would go around and shake everybody's hand. Again, it was his life. It was his family." A member of the Tri-County and Medina United States Bowling Congress halls of fame, Pat Noble was still giving lessons even with his failing eyesight. "He was very friendly and very knowledgeable," said longtime friend Nancy Tinney, the boys and girls bowling coach at Buckeye High. "Even though his eyesight was compromised, he could see what people were doing wrong and help them. "He had a great sense of humor and a lot of jokes. No matter what the situation was, Pat had a joke to tell about it. Some of them were funny and some of them were really dry, but if it made you laugh, he was happy." Years ago, Tinney began taking Noble a piece of cake for his birthday. Sometimes it was chocolate, other times it was strawberry, Italian cream or even a slice of cherry pie. "As the years went by, he wanted a whole cake," Tinney said. "He would start reminding me in February. His birthday was Oct. 3." A celebration of life will be held on an undetermined date for Noble, who is survived by daughters Kari and Samantha, sister Jakki Allen, brothers Frankie, Ed and Mike, his twin, many nieces and nephews and countless bowling friends. "He was an amazing friend," Sadowski said. "Bowling was a big thing, but it spread out to even better friendships. He was a kind and amazing guy who could solve the world's problems. He knew a lot of stuff about a lot of stuff. "He did it all. Whatever was needed in bowling, sign Pat up." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com.