Ernie Johnson

Champion bowler Born: November 16, 1931; Died: October 16, 2016 ERNEST (Ernie) Johnson, who has died aged 84, was a skilled and dedicated bowler who was successful at county and national level. He was also a passionate promoter of the sport and was a president of the Scottish Bowling Association.

He was born in 1931, the only child of William and Annie Johnson, and attended Dumbarton Academy.

On leaving school, he joined the Trustees Savings Bank where he spent his working life but from an early age he was interested in bowls and practised at Townend Bowling Club which was near his parents’ home. He eventually joined that club where he soon distinguished himself, winning the championship on four occasions as well as numerous other competitions.

In 1960 he joined Dumbarton Bowling Club winning their club championship in his first season, along with the President’s Prize, the Peter Denny Shield, and was local champion of champions three times.

The following season he won through to the Scottish finals and succeeded in capturing the single-handed title. To place your notice in Family Announcements Monday - Friday 9.00am -5.00pm

His Scottish success meant he qualified to play in the British Isles Championship and again he triumphed, this time in a dramatic final against his Welsh opponent.

His individual bowling achievements are too numerous to list. As well as the many single-handed successes, he gained 100 caps playing for the county team, many of them as skip, and played a significant role off the greens as well.

Along with Jimmy Jack of the Dixon Bowling Club, he helped set up a junior county team which brought young talent to the fore.

His vision of encouraging young people to play bowls extended to his own club, Dumbarton, where he set up a junior section which proved to be a huge benefit to the club and to bowls locally.

He was never slow to take on positions of responsibility. He served as nine years as secretary of Dumbarton Bowling Club, was elected president of the club in 1981, and acted as green ranger for many years. His contribution to Dumbarton Bowling Club was recognized in 2015 when he was made honorary president. He was also honorary president of Townend Bowling Club.

His detailed and conscientious administrative skills came to good use when he served for 20 years as a district councillor for the Scottish Bowling Association. Eventually, he climbed to the very top of the Scottish bowling scene when he was elected to become president of the association in 2011.

However, bowls was not the only sport at which he excelled. Like several members of his family in Dumbarton, he was a stalwart of Dumbarton Cricket Club where he acted as the club secretary keeping immaculate records as was his custom. His love of statistics and record keeping was legendary, as was his encyclopaedic knowledge of bowls, not just in the local area but throughout the country. His collection of bowling badges was also impressive.

Another great love was classical music, especially the works of Richard Wagner, and he also made a huge effort to collect the many recordings of the Dumbarton-born opera star, David Ward.

He did not like to boast about his sporting achievements though. He was also content to do many good deeds with as little fuss as possible.

His generosity was known to just a few people and manifested itself in such things as paying for transport for members of the junior section to get to fixtures, donating money to help support various activities in his own club, helping out other clubs on occasion, and giving money to good causes.

In recent months his health had begun to deteriorate and he died in the RAH Paisley.

He was a character, a dedicated sportsman and sports administrator.