Roger Zeller

Meritorious Service

Roger Zeller
City: San Antonio
State: TX
Inducted: 2022

Zeller helped leave his mark on the sport as the owner, president and chief executive officer of Columbia Industries, which he purchased in 1960. He initially focused on the creation and distribution of plastic and polyester bowling balls.

After selling the company in 1964, the decorated military veteran bought it back in 1967, serving as the majority owner for approximately 30 years.

As the sport hit its highest participation points in the 1970s and 1980s, Columbia 300 produced more than 5,000 bowling balls a day, and the company sold more than 1 million bowling balls for the first time in 1976. Through the 1990s, Columbia was the largest manufacturer of bowling balls and even produced balls for AMF and Track.

Columbia 300 served as the title sponsor for many professional events on both the men's and women's tours over the years, and Zeller was elected to the PBA Hall of Fame for meritorious service in 1995.

Zeller also spent time as a proprietor, served as a National Bowling Council board member and as trustee for the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the San Antonio Bowling Council Hall of Fame in 1977 and received the Billiard and Bowling Institute of America Industry Service Award in 1988.

Zeller established the John Jowdy Scholarship Fund and created the Roger L. and Laura D. Zeller Charitable Foundation, which funded a wing of the Cancer Therapy & Research Center in San Antonio.