Joseph Thum

Meritorious Service

Joseph Thum
City: New York
State: NY
Inducted: 1980

Heralded as the father of international bowling, "Uncle Joe" also was a driving force in the organization of ABC. His creative ventures took many of the best U.S. bowlers to Stockholm, Sweden, in 1923, two other European trips in 1926 and 1929 to Berlin in 1936, where the bowlers competed in a special event held in conjunction before the Olympic Games. He was elected president of the International Bowling Association when it was founded in Stockholm in 1926.