It Happened in Crawford County: Bowling is right up Diane Kaple's alley
Diane Kaple is a daughter of Harry Wells and Dorothy Watts Wells. Diane’s siblings are Denny and David Wells and Deb Hoover. Harry built Suburban Lanes in 1962 and was also the co-owner. He also served as president of Bowling Proprietors’ Bowling Association of America. Both parents instilled the love of bowling in Diane’s life. Later, Harry was the executive director of the Crawford County Humane Society until he passed in 2014. Her mom, Dorothy, worked at AAA and retired from there.
Diane’s husband Tim was a letter carrier for Bucyrus Post Office, walked 10 to 12 miles a day and is now retired. Their son Joshua lives in Columbus and works for BMW; daughter Jamie Bishop is the office manager for Avita Orthopedics.
Diane started school at Norton Elementary, but her real passion in life, for obvious reasons, was bowling with her dad. Harry started a bowling club at Suburban in 1974, and many of the area high schools belonged to the group. Diane got to know a lot of kids when she worked at the snack bar. When Wynford and Colonel Crawford bowled, she met many more kids. In high school, Diane was involved in the variety nights and some solos in choir. School was good, and the Friday night football games and car laps uptown were great. That’s how her husband-to-be, Tim Kaple, and she got together. They met when she was 14. Now 44 years later — wow, it’s a long time together.
Diane learned sign language
Diane graduated in 1978 and then she and Tim married and had two children. Diane stayed home until they were in school. Then, in 1987, she started working as an aide in the multi-handicapped class for 15 years. This was a good fit for Diane since she had already worked as a camp counselor for Joy Tarbert’s Camp for Kids with special needs. She had learned sign language, which helped her get the job as an aide. She had one deaf child in class, and she worked a lot with him and with the entire class and their needs.
When a librarian position opened up at Norton Elementary, Diane took the job. Shortly afterwards, the elementary schools combined into one at the present elementary school, and she continued on there for another 12 years as the librarian. Here again, this job was just right for Diane because she and her family loved to read. Grandmother, mother, sister — they all inspired Diane to be a lover of books.
When the librarians at the high school retired, Diane moved there in 2019, where she is currently. It’s totally different; the kids come from the study halls to do projects or they’re allowed to just relax in the library. Diane enjoys the conversations with the kids; she thinks they are a lot of fun. She can also promote her other love with them — bowling.
When Frank Myers retired in 1999, Diane became the bowling adviser for the high school. She was still working at the elementary school at the time, but she performed double duty. The bowling program became a varsity sport, going from a club status, and Diane became head coach for Bucyrus H.S. They compete with other schools.
School now has 32 bowlers and five teams
Since they became a varsity sport, starting with 12 kids (seven boys and five girls), it was just enough to make a team. Today, they have 32 bowlers and five teams — two JV boys’ teams, one girls’ JV and both a boys’ and girls’ varsity team. They host a tournament called the Redmen Classic — a sold-out tournament. There are usually 22 teams participating from all over Ohio. She has college recruiters come in and scout the bowlers to see what’s "out there." The school board had to approve moving it from the club level to a varsity sport four years ago. It’s ongoing every year, and the school board must be pleased with the results. Her girls were the Northwest Ohio Bowling League champs with a season record of 11 and 1. This year Diane was selected the NOBL Girls Coach of the Year.
Diane couldn’t be happier. She started a middle school bowling club in 2022. The first year it was a very big success, bringing up nine eighth grade boys that went on to the high school bowling program the following year, and it’s doing very well. By offering bowling as a sport, she gave students another option for a winter sport they can be involved in. In closing, Diane hopes over the 23 years of coaching, that her bowlers take away the love of the game.
Go online for more of Mary Fox’s stories and photos on bucyrustelegraphforum.com. If you are interested in sharing a story, write Mary Fox, 931 Marion Road, Bucyrus, OH 44820 or email littlefoxfactory@columbus.rr.com.
This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Diane Kaple shares her life-long love for bowling with Bucyrus kids
