Marvelous Marvel bowls at 92

  Marvel Mathis may have been born in 1916, but that doesn't slow her down one bit from doing what she enjoys the most: bowling with her friends at the AMF Inca Lanes.

  The 92-year-old loves bowling so much that she manages to get out to the bowling alley at least three times a week, with an average of three games each visit.

   "Bowling is good exercise and it's nice to be with friends and have fun," Mathis said. 

  Using an eight-pound ball, Mathis averages a game of 130. All from a woman who has been legally blind for the past decade after suffering from macular degeneration since 1998.

  Macular degeneration is a medical condition predominantly found in elderly adults in which the center of the inner lining of the eye, known as the macula area of the retina, suffers thinning, and in some cases, bleeding. This can result in loss of central vision, which entails inability to see fine details, to read or to recognize faces and can slowly cause blindness.

  But that hasn't slowed Mathis down one bit. She enjoys bowling whether she bowls a 155 or a 95 score, she said.

   "Some days you're on it, and some days you're not," Mathis chuckled of her high or low games. "The only advice is just keep moving, that's all. Just get up there and throw it!"

  Mathis, who may be in her 90s, is young at heart, calling her 90-year-old brother and bowling partner Art Taylor "my kid brother" who drives her to the bowling alley regularly. "He's two years younger than me, so he'll always be my little brother," she laughed.

  "Marvel has been bowling with us since 1999,"  bowling partner Darlene Smith said. "She's just so full of energy, I wouldn't be surprised if she lived to be 117!"

  Mathis bowls during Senior Fun Day at the lanes with her friends Tiny Kostrzewa, 84, and her husband, Ted, 86, as well as Mathis' brother and Smith, who is 75 years old.

  Tiny said, "Some days we just can't do a damn thing, but that's OK. We have fun just playing cards and spending time together.

  "Marvel may be the oldest bowler at Senior Fun Day, but we're all old-timers so we don't look at age," she chuckled.

  Mathis came to Yuma on Thanksgiving day 1998 from Lansing, Mich., after the passing of her husband of 53 years, Claude. " My brother came and got me from Michigan and brought me here to Yuma to be with him. Michigan is a little cooler than here, but I enjoy being close to my brother, and the weather doesn't bother me."

  It was then her "kid" brother urged her into bowling, Mathis said.

  "When Art came to Michigan and got me, he bowled and I started with him then. I never really bowled much. Just for fun, when the occasion arose, it wasn't really my sport at first."

  She spent many years playing softball and even made it to state and world tournaments.

  "When I was younger I loved to play ball. I was into softball around 1932 and I played for nine years with a women's league. We even made it to the world tournament in Chicago three years in a row. I remember they had the diamonds the lengths of a football field apart, or at least it felt that way."

  After playing ball, Mathis worked many careers, including in binderies and as a seamstress. But perhaps one of her most important jobs was when she worked as a "Rosie the riveter" during World War II.

  Rosie the riveter was a slang term for the nearly 6 million women who worked in the manufacturing plants that produced munitions and material during the war. These women took the places of the male workers who were absent fighting in the war.

  "We did a lot of the binding then," Mathis said. "After the war, I owned my own seamstress shop with about 500 steady customers at one point."

  Now, Mathis is adjusting to the changes that come with macular degeneration. "I was a little sad when I couldn't drive anymore. But my brother takes me wherever I need to go. He's real good to me that way. That's why I came out here."

  One thing that has remained a staple in Mathis' life is watching the soap opera "As the World Turns." Mathis has been watching the show since the first episode debuted on television in 1956 and continues to watch every episode she can.

  "Some things change but some things always remain the same," Mathis said.

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STATS AND FACTS|

Name: Marvel Josephine Mathis

Birthplace: Southern Florida

Occupation: Retired

Marital status: Married to Claude Mathis for 53 years, widowed since 1998

Children: None

Pets: I used to have some poodles, but not anymore

Political affiliation: Always been a Democrat

Favorite thing to eat: Glazed ham with macaroni and cheese and sweet potatoes

Favorite local restaurant: Texas Roadhouse

Favorite midnight snack: Midnight snacking is not good for you

Favorite movie: "Gone with the Wind"

Favorite TV show: "As the World Turns"

Biggest pet peeve: Loud cell-phone talkers

If the world was ending tomorrow, what I'd do today: The same thing I do every day!

Most unusual or interesting skill: Bowling and picking up spares.

If my life had a theme song it would be: Oh , I don't know? "Forever and Ever"?

If they make a movie about me I'll be played by: Estelle Getty

Favorite weekend getaway: Escondido, Calif., to the Lawrence Welk Ranch

Favorite vacation spot so far: Montana, to visit my brother's children.