| Ladewig became interested in bowling as a young teen-ager, when she got a job cashiering, cleaning up, and occasionally setting pins at a Grand Rapids bowling center for $2.50 a day. At the peak of her career, in the early 1960s, she was earning $25,000 a year giving exhibitions and clinics, writing a syndicated column, and serving as a sportswear design consultant. The woman bowler of the year a record 9 times, from 1950 through 1955 and in 1958, 1959, and 1963, Ladewig was named the greatest of all time in a 1973 poll. A vivacious 5-foot-4, 124-pound blonde, she won the Women's All-Star tournament from 1949 through 1952 and in 1954, 1956, 1959, and 1963.
She achieved her 1951 All-Star victory by averaging 247.5 pins over an eight-day period, which would have won the men's title that year. Ladewig's other championships included the 1960 WPBA National, the WIBC all-events in 1950 and 1955, the 1955 WIBC doubles with Wyllis Ryskamp, and the 1950 WIBC team title with the Grand Rapids Fanatorium Majors.
Ladewig announced her retirement from competitive bowling in November of 1965, after winning the World Invitational for a record fifth time. |
USA