From the Annual Meeting Minutes of the SCWBA on 5-21-1977, Shirley Wessinger introduced Mrs. Mitzi herold as the 1977 SCWBA inductee into the Hall of Fame for Meritorious Service. Introduced also were members of Mrs. Herold’s family attending for this honor, who were her husband, Richard, and mother, Mrs. Heflin of Houston, Texas. Mrs. Wessinger then reviewed the accomplishments of Mrs. Herold and her contributions to the game of tenpins, and presented her with the Hall of Fame awards.
Mary Dean Williamson, Aiken, who presented Mrs. Herold with a gift from the Aiken WBA and extended their congratulations and love.
The following was reported in the Aiken Standard on Friday May 29, 1998, Aiken, SC. Rolling strikes is second nature to Aikenite Mitzi Herold. She has been an avid bowler since her early days in Houston, Texas. From the time she attended her first Women’s International Bowling Congress in 1963 to her retirement from the WIBC board in 1996, she has had a stellar bowling career.
To those in the bowling world, it comes as no surprise that she is the most recent inductee to the WIBC Hall of Fame. Recipients of the honor are selected by a panel of sports writers and Hall of Fame members. Mrs. Herold is one of only 43 women to be inducted, and is the first South Carolinian to receive the designation.
“I don’t mind telling you this was certainly a surprise,” Mrs. Herold said.
She has served as the secretary, treasurer and president of the Aiken chapter of the WIBC, and was a charter organizer of the South Carolina Women’s Bowling Association. She served as president of that organization for 10 of the 21 years she has been associated with it.
Mrs. Herold also served on the National Young American Bowling Alliance board of directors, the S.C. Junior Bowling Alliance and the Aiken Junior Bowling Association. She was a co-founder of the Bowling Council of the Carolinas, and served as president of the organization for two years.
In the midst of her administrative duties she still found time to bowl, give presentations, teach workshops and participate in charitable endeavors.
“I was flying to two or three different places around the country every month giving seminars and attending meetings,” she said. Those activities have been curtailed, however, after an incident in a Florida hotel where she was exposed to toxic fumes. She is being treated for the resulting asthma-like condition, and said she hopes doctors will find a treatment which will allow her to be more active in the future.
Even with the temporary setback, her love of the sport and the goodwill created by those who participate in it is as strong as ever.
“One of the things I am proudest of is the BVL (Bowlers-Veterans Link) fund,” she said. We raise money for the veterans hospitals and provide the kinds of things not covered by other funds.” The fund has provided vans, television sets for those who cannot go to the activity rooms, publications and sports equipment.
“We have raised over $1 million each year through the BVL fund,” she said. “We also had a fund for the children of those who died in Operation Desert Storm.”
“We are more than a fun-loving organization, though we are that too,” Mrs. Herold said, “and we like doing something for the community.”
And though she talks more about the organizations she has served than she does about herself, the international bowling community was happy to do something for her.
Mrs. Herold’s portrait will hang in the rotunda of the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame in St. Louis for a year. The facility is home to the Men’s and Women’s Bowling Hall of Fame. After a year, the portrait will be placed permanently in the Women’s Hall of Fame. (This ends the Aiken Standard article.)
Obituary – Died February 16, 2002
Mrs. Mitzi Herold (Aiken, SC)
Web posted Monday February 18, 2002
Aiken,SC – Funeral services for Mrs. M. Mitzi Herold, 74, who died February 16, 2002, in the Duke Medical Center, Durham, N.C., beloved wife of Mr. T. Richard Herold of Kismet Drive, Aiken, S.C. will be conducted Tuesday morning at 10:00 a.m. from the Stephen D. Posey Funeral Home. Interment in Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery, Houston, Texas. Mrs. Herold was a native of Houston, Texas, having made Aiken her home for the past 48 years. She was a member of the First Christian Church of Aiken, and Executive Vice-President of Herold Enterprises, Inc. Mrs. Herold was a member of the Womens International Bowling Congress where she had served as the former vice president, former chairman of the Legal and Site Inspection Committee and committee of the Certification Review and Young American Bowling Alliance Committees. Her past positions include president, first vice-president, second vice-president, and director of the South Carolina Women’s Bowling Association; president of the Carolina Bowling Council; director of the South Carolina Junior Association; president, first vice-president, secretary, treasurer, and director of the Aiken Women’s Bowling and Secretary-Treasurer of the Aiken Jr. Bowling Association. For her service, the South Carolina Bowling Association inducted Mrs. Herold into its Hall of Fame. She was also a life member of the South Carolina Womens Bowling Association and the Aiken Womens Association. A charter Board member of the Women’s International Bowling Congress Hall of Fame and Museum of St. Louis, Missouri, Mrs. Herold was the 1996 Member Emeritus of the Womens International Bowling Cngress, an honor bestowed on only 42 women bowlers as of that year. She was inducted in 1998 into the Womens International Congress Hall of Fame for Meritorious Service. Additional survivors include several nieces and nephews. The family will receive friends at the funeral home this Monday evening from 6 to 8. Memorials may be made to St. Josephs Hospice, 2260 Wrightsboro Road, Augusta, GA 30904. Stephen D. Posey Funeral Home of North Augusta in charge of arrangements. (803-278-1181).
The Augusta Chronicle February 18, 2002
