Joyce Richey, a member of the Joplin USBC Hall of Fame, is a survivor.

A league bowler in Joplin for 54 years, Joyce has survived a car wreck and cancer (twice).

The car wreck, which took the life of her mother, Madolyn Parker, left Joyce with two broken legs among other injuries. Medical personnel told her she would never walk again. They didn’t know Joyce.

After bone grafts and six months of therapy, Joyce started walking with the aid of crutches. After a time, she started using a walker and, finally, a cane. She still has metal plates in both legs from the ankle to the thigh.

The accident happened on Sept. 28, 1985, the birthday of her late grandmother, Pearl Victor.

“Mother and I had been playing bingo near Seneca and were returning home when the accident happened,” Joyce recalls. “Mother never regained consciousness.”

Joyce started bowling at age 16 with her grandmother on the Rosenberg Scrap Metal team in the Wednesday Newcomers League.

“That was my introduction to bowling,” she said. “They didn’t have the programs for youth bowlers in those days.”

It was during that league that Joyce developed her smooth but unorthodox bowling style of swinging the ball high over her head on her backswing.

“I was using a 12-pound ball and that high backswing just came naturally,” she says. “After I married Ernie (Richey) in 1956, I went to a 14-pound ball, thinking that (the extra weight) would cut down on my backswing. It didn’t happen. Carl Richard (owner of the two Joplin bowling centers) gave me some good advice. He said: ‘Stick with it.’”

Joyce, at age 70, still has that same arm swing. I’ve only seen one other Joplin bowler who had a backswing as high and that was Gene Smith.

There was a time when Joyce had to cut down on her backswing. When she returned to bowling in January of 1987, some 16 months after the accident, she could only stand at the foul line and deliver the ball. “I would stand there, pump the ball three times, and then throw it,” she recalls.

“The next year (1987-88) I got back to my four-step approach and my high backswing.”

The mother of a son, John, and daughter, Kerri Simms, a grandmother and great-grandmother, Joyce still bowls one night a week, competing with teammates Rose Puckett, Mary Lou Halama, Heidi Burggraf and Jessie Gartner in the Hilltop Rollers League on Thursday nights at Bowl East.

She’s had to miss some nights due to the treatments for cancer and a back injury, but Joyce is there most nights. Her cancer is in remission now, thanks to a maintenance drug which she says she has to take every eight weeks for two years.

Also, Joyce has a full-time job, working as a data entry clerk at Downstream Casino.

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in May of 1995, Joyce has bowled a high series of 668 and a high game of 275. Her highest average for a season was 181. She carried a 159 average last year and currently has a 152 average, although she’s bowled only four weeks due to the back injury.

Next time you’re in Bowl East on a Thursday night, check out the women’s league on the north end of the bowling center. You can’t miss Joyce Richey. She’s the one with the ball high over her head as she approaches the foul line.

300s, near-800s

Due to another bout with pneumonia, this column failed to appear last week. So, I’m including some of the previous week’s highlights with the past week’s high scores from Crown Lanes, Bowl East and the Fourth Street Bowl.

Rex Millsap and Eric Wilson had 300 games at Bowl East, but there were a couple of near-800 series posted during the last two weeks.

Carol Dutton, bowling at the Fourth Street Bowl, just missed with a 791 on games of 246, 267 and 278. Carol missed a six pin on a spare shot in the 10th frame of her third game, costing her the 800. “I just got wobbly kneed,” she lamented.

Ed Israel, bowling at Bowl East, had games of 257, 279 and 245 in totaling 781, tops among the men this past week. Chris Misner rolled 779 with games of 278 and 289.

Hall of Fame member Bill Dutton had a 299 game at the Fourth Street Bowl, leaving a 10 pin (what else?) on his final ball in the tenth frame. It was Bill’s fifth 299 to go with a dozen perfect games.

The top series and game scores:

Crown Lanes—Jeff Carter 715, Bryan Cox 710 and Janie Walkenshaw 217-601.

Fourth Street Bowl—Men: John Clifford 728, Skip Curtis 270, Bill Dutton 299-723-752, David Fort 778, Chris Haase 707, Jamie Kohler 715, Chris Misner 278-289-779, Larry Oxendine 276, Brett Scott 289, Cliff Stonerock 700.

Women: Candy Brown 246-606, Carol Dutton 246-676, 246-267-278-791 and 269-721, Sonya Fort 234, Casie Walker 278-648 and 240-605, Janie Walkenshaw 248-617.

Seniors: Charlie Kemp 244-247-608, Glen Patton 254-662,Al Knaust 221, William Rentchler 244-604, Bill Rowe 242, Bernice Cooke 521, Millie Dickerson 201-561, Barb Eppard 210, Jackie Peterson 214-522-520-522, Taukia Reynolds 527, Bev Zerkel 221-570.

Bowl East—Men: Luke Alexander 716, David Brisco 278-742, Kevin Burgess 277-729, Bill Busby 722, Jake Hensley 747, Ed Israel 279-781, Ron Nichols 702, Randy Nichols 279-740, Larry Oxendine 725, Chris Slates 711, Tom Stith 279-732, Rex Millsap 300-758, Eric Wilson 300.

Women: Crystal Beeson 246-640, Candy Brown 258-607-643, Renee Lisle 233-614, Tammy Little 237-620, Heather Wilson 607.

Seniors: Jim Billman 233, Buryl Clingan 590, Tom Fortson 225-618, Tom Kinkade 593, Steve Wiles 247-636-671, Sandy Billman 194, Bev Cochran 511, Carolyn Fortson 506.

Youth: Darrell Brisco 635, Zack Colton 597, Trevor Drake 231-243-665, Tyler Meyer 610, Kenny Phillips 607.

Open drew 92 teams

A total of 92 teams (men and women), 232 doubles entries and 463 singles entries competed in the Joplin Open at the Fourth Street Bowl during the month of October.

There were 77 teams in the men’s division and 15 in the women’s tournament. The doubles breakdown was 190 men’s duos and 42 women’s pairs. In singles, there were 379 entries in the men’s division and 84 in the women’s.

Tom Bohannon, with a 773 scratch series, won men’s singles and Joplin’s Carol Dutton tied with Angela Jackson in women’s singles with 699s.

The top five unofficial winners in teams, singles and doubles:

Men’s teams—1, Acme Metal, 3378. 2, Carl’s Coaches, 3377. 3, Line X, 3364. 4, Davis Dodge Inc., Ava, 3302. 5, Barrett Farms, 3293.

Men’s doubles—1, Sauder-Thompson, 1470. 2, Hogan-Iseminger, 1458. 3, Hoerle-Vibbard, 1437. 4, Relph-Brandon, 1419. 5, Yarbrough-Stoner, 1404.

Men’s singles—1, Tom Bohannon, 773. 2, Gene Thompson, 764. 3, Dennis Collins, 760. 4, Roger Teuber, 739. 5, David Scott, 734.

Women’s teams—1, Alterations Etc., 3059. 2, Joplin Girls, 3043. 3, Half Fast, 3036. 4, Scrumptous Squash, 3015. 5, Bring It On, 3008.

Women’s doubles—1, DeLauder-Jackson, 1319. 2, Hood-Dooley, 1305. 3, Edeman-Nieman, 1292. 4, Holtsman-Nolan, 1291. 5, Branner-Wise, 1288.

Women’s singles—1, Angela Jackson, Carol Dutton, tie, 699. 3, Sherri Hood, 682. 4, Jennifer Groves, 676. 5, Kristi DeLauder, 675.

Address correspondence to Wendell Redden, c/o The Joplin Globe, P.O. Box 7, Joplin, Mo. 64802, or e-mail sports@joplinglobe.com.