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All bowlers would agree that getting spares or strikes can be difficult and frustrating at times. But for Pete Percefull, it doesn’t matter how the pins are falling or how many are left standing when he throws the ball. After all, he can’t even see them.
When the 94-year-old lets the ball go, he immediately turns around and heads back to the seating area. If he gets a strike, teammates tell him. If pins are left, they tell him that as well. Percefull is legally blind and can’t see the end of the alley.
“I was told I had macular degeneration,” he said after bowling two games last Monday. “I was told in October of 2014 that I was going blind.”
Percefull retired from the U.S. Army in 1973 after 23 years of service, though not consecutively but in three increments of time.
Just prior to signing up, as an Oklahoma native Percefull displayed his loyalty to one of the state’s football teams and a bowling game in what must be considered an unusual way.
“Three of us wanted to join the Army,” he recalled. “They asked me, when? And I said January 3rd because Oklahoma State was going to play in a bowling game. I wanted to listen to it. There was no TV. I listened to it, then joined the army January 3rd.”
After leaving the service, Percefull eventually moved into a camper in Panama, Fla, where he and his wife lived for nine years. After his wife passed, he moved to Baldwin County in 2004, though he said he’s been bowling in the area since the 1990s.
Percefull now lives on Lake Sinclair with his daughter and son-in-law. He said when he began bowling, he averaged 160 for several years as a member of multiple teams and he still competes regularly.
“Nobody is as old as me on those teams,” he said. “They even told me, though I don’t know how true it is, that I was the oldest active bowler in the state of Georgia.”
Percefull concedes that although he continues to bowl, his average has understandably dropped over the years and now stands at 125, but he quickly adds, the average may not be very good, but it still shows his skill after losing his sight.
“I can’t see the pins. I bowl by the different color lines. On the first ball, I bowl 10 boards over, sometimes nine boards. That’s supposed to put me in the pocket,” he explained. “So, if I leave something down there or don’t get a strike, it’s just a guess. Sometimes I get it, sometimes I don’t.”
Since Percefull can’t see the pins at the end of the alley, his teammates assist him on his second ball.
“If there’s a pin down, they tell me which one it is. I try to bowl accordingly,” Percefull said.
Leagues typically bowl three games, but Percefull is only bowling two now, but he said he plans to continue for as long as he can.
“The thing is, I’ve got to find a lighter ball. I bowl now with a 12; I’m looking for an 11 or 10 to continue,” said Percefull. “As long as I stay in shape, I’ll continue bowling my way down the alley.”
Next Monday is the final day of the current bowling season. Percefull plans to return for the next season.
“I’m going to be here next year if the good Lord upstairs lets me be,” he said. “It’s all up to Him.”