ROGER DECKER

Roger Decker was born on August 1, 1956, to Donald and Dorothy Decker and is the 5th of 6 siblings. His other siblings are Nancy, Bob, Norma, Glen, and Ron. He married Bonnie Carlson, who has two daughters Tina & Traci, on September 10th, 1981. Roger is retired from Collins Aerospace in Rockford (Formerly Sundstrand).

Roger started bowling in his early 20’s in a league at Blackbridge Bowl. He then moved to Madison where he met his future wife, Bonnie. They worked on a company bowling sweeper where they learned a lot about each other. They joined a couple’s league when he was 24 in Madison and have continued to bowl in leagues in Madison & Janesville since.

 A big influence in Roger’s career was Bonnie because when she first saw him bowl, she said he looked like a “fish out of water”. Bonnie taught Roger the basics then started dragging him to bowling/coaching clinics, one was in Las Vegas with professional bowlers as the coaches.  He was shown how to put some action on the ball. Roger has enjoyed his career and has enjoyed bowling with his brothers Bob and Ron for several years.

 In the 1990’s, Roger served on the JBA Board of Directors for 8 years. He was the tournament manager for the annual championship for 4+ years.  Roger was Secretary/Treasurer for Leagues and Blackbridge Bowl and Varsity Lanes in Milton for 10+ years. He also coached youth bowlers at El-Ra and Blackbridge Bowl. After the first year of fighting the large wooden standings board he decided to set up a digital system for the tournament. He worked closely with John Carson, association secretary and treasurer, transitioning from using manually completed forms to the new electronic age and the ABC software, which was a DOS operated system.

 The most vivid memory in Roger’s career was when he picked up the 7-10 split and didn’t even see it happen. He just knew he got the 10 pin and turned around, and everyone cheered. Another highlight in his career was on September 15, 2013, which kept him pumped up with adrenaline for several weeks. He shot 801 with games of 277-235-289. Roger said his 300 was great, but not like the 801 was! He also remembers the 299 he had in Broadhead for the Association Tournament because every other ball leading up to the last ball was a Brooklyn strike!

In his career, Roger has bowled in 10+ Association Tournaments, 5+ State Tournaments, 4 National Tournaments, 5+ Association Senior Tournaments and several Moose state and one national tournament. He also made large contribution when Janesville held the state Moose tournament. A lot of them before USBC came into existence. Roger had a high average of 213 and had 1 – 300, 1 – 800, with his high series of 801. His team with his brothers won the 2016-2017 City tournament.

When Roger is not bowling, he loves to do woodworking, especially on his CNC machine. He also enjoys biking around the area to stay fit and exploring more areas that you don’t have time to see by walking.

 Roger will be entering the SCWUSBC Bowling Hall of Fame for Meritorious Service.