Dot Wilkinson was a softball legend and bowler who was in the halls of fame for both of her sports.
- Died: March 18, 2023 (Who else died on March 18?)
- Details of death: Died in Phoenix at the age of 101.
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Hall of fame career
Wilkinson began playing softball for the Phoenix Ramblers when she was just 11 years old. The team was popular with local sports audiences, and they excelled, too – in 1940, they won the women’s amateur national softball championship. It was the first national title for any team in Arizona’s history. With Wilkinson as catcher, the Ramblers would win more titles in 1948 and 1949. She remained with the Ramblers for more than 30 years, batting .455 in 1954 and .450 in 1955 before her retirement from softball in 1965. Wilkinson took up bowling in the years before her retirement, becoming a champion in a second sport. Among her wins was the 1962 Women’s International Bowling Queen’s Tournament. Wilkinson was inducted into the National Softball Hall of Fame and Museum in 1970 and the International Bowling Hall of Fame in 1990. In 1975, she became the first woman inducted into the Arizona Hall of Fame, and a decade and a half later, she was named Arizona’s eighth greatest athlete of all time.
Tributes to Dot Wilkinson
Full obituary: Arizona Republic
