Tom Kouros, USBC Hall of Famer, dies at age 92

ARLINGTON, Texas – Tom Kouros of Deer Park, Illinois, a United States Bowling Congress Hall of Fame member, passed away at his home on April 28. He was 92.

Elected to the USBC Hall of Fame in 2009, Kouros is the best-selling author of Par Bowling, which sold more than 800,000 copies, and Par Bowling: The Challenge. As a coach, he conducted hundreds of clinics in the United States and in more than 20 countries worldwide, and he also served as a technical adviser to the World Tenpin Bowling Association.

He was the longtime proprietor of River Rand Bowl in Des Plaines, Illinois, and served as president and secretary treasurer of Chicago's Northwest Bowling Proprietors’ Association.

The co-founder and former president of the Mid-America Bowling Writers, he won numerous writing awards during his more than 30 years as a columnist for Bowlers Journal International.

Kouros received the Flowers for the Living Award in 2001, was the first recipient of the International Coach of the Year Award by the World Bowling Writers in 2002, and received the Louis Petersen Award from Illinois State Bowling Proprietors’ Association in 2003. He also was honored by the Bowling Writers Association of America with the Rip Van Winkle Award in 1997.

He is a member of the Illinois Bowling Association Hall of Fame (2005) and was a 2009 inductee into the Bowling Coaches Hall of Fame.

Kouros is survived by his sister, Alice Malzahn, his children, Christopher Kouros (Theresa Griffin), Marcie Kouros, Tyson Kouros, Craig Kouros (Jodie Rowlett), and six grandchildren.

A memorial service is scheduled for May 11 at 11 a.m. in the Old Chapel of the First Presbyterian Church, 302 N. Dunton Ave., Arlington Heights, Illinois. A reception will follow at River Rand Bowl, 191 S. River Road, Des Plaines.