As many TotalBowling forum members will know, Roy West passed away last week. In recent years, I kept in touch with Roy predominantly by email and phone, and unfortunately two attempts to coincide visits to the Gold Coast late last year with a get-together with Roy and his wife Sylvia were unsuccessful due to Roy’s busy schedule. This, of course, is one of the abiding memories I’ll treasure of Roy, in that he fully retained his amazing intellect, energy and interest in life – not to mention his delightful sense of humour – and kept an active social calendar with family and friends
The tribute below barely does justice to the impact and contribution Roy made to bowling in this country; however, it’s a humble expression of my respect for a man who touched many of our lives in a positive way.
VALE - ROY WEST
The extraordinary life and distinguished career of Roy West sadly ended on 2nd February 2008. Described by colleagues as one of nature’s gentleman and highly respected industry leader, Roy West attracted strong loyalty and was held in high esteem by the bowling fraternity across Australia and worldwide.
Roy was involved with tenpin bowling since its inception in Australia when the first demonstration lane was installed in a small factory building in the Sydney suburb of Artarmon. He joined AMF at the end of 1962 as Administration Assistant to the Managing Director, principally concerned with bowling marketing, promotion and financing - the beginning of an era that spanned a quarter of a century. In 1964 he was appointed to the Board of Directors and named Manager of the Bowling Division, whose market area included Australia, New Zealand, South East Asia and the South Pacific Islands.
After starting his career in the Crown Law Department of Victoria, Roy spent a three-year period of active service with the Royal Australian Navy. On his discharge in 1946 he attended the Universities of Melbourne and Sydney, graduating with a Degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and worked with a Sydney law firm prior to starting a commerce career as legal advisor to Hoyts Theatres Limited, the Australian exhibiting subsidiary of 20th Century Fox Film Corporation. He was appointed Assistant to the General Manager and later Managing Director and represented this company on several Boards in various joint venture activities and industry committees, including two years with AMF’s competitor, Brunswick of Australia, from 1960 to 1962.
A magazine report in 1987 following his AMF retirement dinner, attended by guests from all around Australia and overseas, described the accolades he received for his significant contribution to the sport’s well-being. “Mr. West, who is usually unrestrained as an after-dinner speaker, was on the receiving end of so much praise he was almost lost for words. He did, however, amuse the appreciative audience with many stories of past and present, before alluding to the wonderful people he had had the great pleasure to work with over the years,” it stated.
During the critical era of rebuilding the sport in the late nineties, after the Australian Tenpin Bowling Congress foundered as a result of its inability to fulfill criteria laid down by the Australian Sports Commission, Roy West was asked to contribute his expertise towards resurrecting the sport. Tenpin Bowling Australia was formed after extensive consultation with representatives of bowling centre proprietors and the Australian Sports Commission. Once the ASC was satisfied that the new body was suitably constituted to meet its guidelines, it released the funding it had frozen and endorsed TBA as the new national governing body for the sport.
The composition of the Board, with representatives from all key entities in the bowling industry, was a radical innovation that recognised the importance of total industry involvement.
During TBA's first year as bowling’s national governing body, Roy assisted in bringing balance, extensive industry, commercial and legal expertise to TBA for his agreed one-year term. He also represented TBA at a key FIQ/WTBA Congress meeting in 1999 in the United Arab Emirates where TBA was recognised by the sport’s world governing body.
The establishment of Ashmore Bowl on the Gold Coast in 1985 maintained Roy’s connection with the bowling industry beyond his retirement from AMF. He was a founding member of Queensland’s Goldpin group and in recent years strongly supported the development of the national proprietors’ organisation, the ABPA.
Roy West passed away on Queensland’s Gold Coast at the age of 83 and is survived by his wife Sylvia and sons Martin, Roger and Paul.
He leaves an honoured legacy to the sport of tenpin bowling.
May he rest in peace.
Lynne Clay
The tribute below barely does justice to the impact and contribution Roy made to bowling in this country; however, it’s a humble expression of my respect for a man who touched many of our lives in a positive way.
VALE - ROY WEST
The extraordinary life and distinguished career of Roy West sadly ended on 2nd February 2008. Described by colleagues as one of nature’s gentleman and highly respected industry leader, Roy West attracted strong loyalty and was held in high esteem by the bowling fraternity across Australia and worldwide.
Roy was involved with tenpin bowling since its inception in Australia when the first demonstration lane was installed in a small factory building in the Sydney suburb of Artarmon. He joined AMF at the end of 1962 as Administration Assistant to the Managing Director, principally concerned with bowling marketing, promotion and financing - the beginning of an era that spanned a quarter of a century. In 1964 he was appointed to the Board of Directors and named Manager of the Bowling Division, whose market area included Australia, New Zealand, South East Asia and the South Pacific Islands.
After starting his career in the Crown Law Department of Victoria, Roy spent a three-year period of active service with the Royal Australian Navy. On his discharge in 1946 he attended the Universities of Melbourne and Sydney, graduating with a Degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and worked with a Sydney law firm prior to starting a commerce career as legal advisor to Hoyts Theatres Limited, the Australian exhibiting subsidiary of 20th Century Fox Film Corporation. He was appointed Assistant to the General Manager and later Managing Director and represented this company on several Boards in various joint venture activities and industry committees, including two years with AMF’s competitor, Brunswick of Australia, from 1960 to 1962.
A magazine report in 1987 following his AMF retirement dinner, attended by guests from all around Australia and overseas, described the accolades he received for his significant contribution to the sport’s well-being. “Mr. West, who is usually unrestrained as an after-dinner speaker, was on the receiving end of so much praise he was almost lost for words. He did, however, amuse the appreciative audience with many stories of past and present, before alluding to the wonderful people he had had the great pleasure to work with over the years,” it stated.
During the critical era of rebuilding the sport in the late nineties, after the Australian Tenpin Bowling Congress foundered as a result of its inability to fulfill criteria laid down by the Australian Sports Commission, Roy West was asked to contribute his expertise towards resurrecting the sport. Tenpin Bowling Australia was formed after extensive consultation with representatives of bowling centre proprietors and the Australian Sports Commission. Once the ASC was satisfied that the new body was suitably constituted to meet its guidelines, it released the funding it had frozen and endorsed TBA as the new national governing body for the sport.
The composition of the Board, with representatives from all key entities in the bowling industry, was a radical innovation that recognised the importance of total industry involvement.
During TBA's first year as bowling’s national governing body, Roy assisted in bringing balance, extensive industry, commercial and legal expertise to TBA for his agreed one-year term. He also represented TBA at a key FIQ/WTBA Congress meeting in 1999 in the United Arab Emirates where TBA was recognised by the sport’s world governing body.
The establishment of Ashmore Bowl on the Gold Coast in 1985 maintained Roy’s connection with the bowling industry beyond his retirement from AMF. He was a founding member of Queensland’s Goldpin group and in recent years strongly supported the development of the national proprietors’ organisation, the ABPA.
Roy West passed away on Queensland’s Gold Coast at the age of 83 and is survived by his wife Sylvia and sons Martin, Roger and Paul.
He leaves an honoured legacy to the sport of tenpin bowling.
May he rest in peace.
Lynne Clay
