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Ruth
Jones Konhorst is just one of the many
Centralia women who actively participated in
a number of athletic arenas throughout her
lifetime.
She began her sporting career in grade
sschool by participating in the grade school
intramural basketball program. After
being promoted to high school, she moved her
athletic talents to the softball
diamond. Ruth played first base and
carried a .333 batting average for three
consecutive years while competing during the
summer in tournaments throughout Southern
Illinois as a member of the Payday fast
pitch softball team. She also pursued
her love of singing by auditioning and being
selected to sing in the chorus of the St.
Louis Muny Spera during her sophomore and
junior summers.
After marrying, Mrs. Konhorst continued to
play softball on the Mother's Team, as well
as compete in barrel racing in the local
rodeos from 1953 to 1961. She retired
her softball cleats and rodeo competition in
1961, but did not retire from
athletics. Ruth decided to take up a
new sport - bowling! A year later her
competitive spirit emerged when she won the
Globe Democrat Carling Singles
Classic. The following year, in 1963
she bowled an almost perfect game.
The American Bowling Congress acknowledged
Konhorst's accomplishment by awarding her a
299 patch and a 676 scratch series patch, as
well as featuring her in the February, 1964
issue of Women's Bowler magazine.
Ruth, age 30, was pictured holding the
lone pin that didn't fall after throwing 11
consecutive strikes in the Woman's Bowling
Association Tournament at Banks Bowl in
Centralia.
Konhorst, the first Centralia woman to bowl
299, was presented with a sapphire ring and
the "Magic Triangle" Omega watch
from the WIBC and the American Bowling
Congress. She continued to collect
awards for her bowling talent when she was
named Bowler of the Year and won All Events,
Team Doubles and Singles, as well as Scratch
Series and Singles in 1968.
Just three years after beginning her new
sport she was consistently rolling multiple
600 series. During her first two years
she averaged 164 and raised her average to
200+ for six consecutive years. She
maintained a 185 average until she
retired. In the early 1970's she was
awarded the WIBC "Triple" patch
for bowling three consecutive games of 196
as well as two all-spare games.
During her 23 years of bowling, Konhorst
accumulated multiple awards acknowledging
her athleticism in singles, doubles, team
and all-event league and tournament
competitions. Two highlights of her
bowling career were Matched Games against
two of Centralia's leading men bowlers, John
McCann and russ Childers. She beat
McCann 626 to 452, but her 564 score fell 7
pins short of beating Childers' 570.
Ruth retired from bowling in 1984, but
actively follows women's college softball,
St. Louis Cardinal baseball, and her
grandson's basketball and baseball
competitions.
Konhorst was born in Centralia to Amos F.
Jones and Marguerite Hood Jones, and raised
there. She married Jackie D. Konhorsst
in 1950. They are the parents of a
daughter Kathryn Konhorst Fletcher and a son
Jack D. Konhorst. She retired after 25
years as a bookkeeper and resides in the
home she and her husband built in 1954.
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