103-year-old celebrates 80 years of bowling: ‘Ed has bowled here forever’

FOX RIVER GROVE, Ill. (WGN) — It’s not every day you meet someone who’s been around for 10 decades, much less at a bowling alley.

Ed Berthold, of Fox River Grove in Illinois, has been lacing up his bowling shoes for 80 years straight. At 103, he’s more than twice the age of others in his 50-plus bowling league.

“Sometimes I wish I was a few years younger,” he said.

For his age, Berthold is in remarkable shape. He’s even surprised himself, because he never thought he’d make it to his twilight years.

“My own father died at 39 of tuberculosis. In those days they didn’t know what to do. … They just isolated you,” he said. “Now when I compare that with what happened to me, I feel pretty lucky.”

Berthold picked up bowling while serving as a bomber pilot during WWII. His flight crew was holed up for a month in Iceland, waiting on replacement parts, so they killed the time by bowling on ice.

Berthold never imagining he’d still be knocking down pins 80 years later. But he’s glad he’s been handed a generous share of extra frames.

“If I keep this up, I have to start lifting weights or something,” he said.