PRO-TURNED-PROPRIETOR ROBINSON PASSES AWAY

Jay Robinson passed away on March 5 following a two-decade struggle with myasthenia gravis and lupus. He was 79.

While Robinson enjoyed success on the PBA Tour, making it to the winner’s circle on three occasions, he also left a lot of 10-pins before Walter Ray Williams Jr. made the practice fashionable. Adding to his frustration was the fact that he really would have preferred to be home, running a bowling center with his wife.

As Robinson said in an April 1981 Bowlers Journal feature, “If I could find the right center to buy, I’d be off the tour in a second.”

That opportunity did not present itself for a while, but Robinson was recruited by the Don Carter chain of centers and became the general manager of a 64-lane center in Harvey, La. Later, he was moved to a new Don Carter center in Kenner, La., when it opened. In ensuing years he would manage other centers in Louisiana, Florida and Tennessee, all the while having a secret weapon for instructional and promotional work at his side — Cheryl. 

Eventually, the Robinsons realized their dream when they owned and operated Hemet Bowl in Hemet, Calif., for four years.