Key to longevity is — bowling?

Aileen Kauer was disappointed when she tripped over a bowling bag late last month at Windsor Bowl and injured her right knee and ankle.

A friend took her to the hospital, where X-rays showed no bones were broken.

“It was just a bad bruise, and I asked them to do something so I could go bowling again. By the third day, I felt better,” she said.

Sure enough, Aileen was back at Windsor Bowl on March 2, about two weeks shy of her 94th birthday, which she will spend with her sons in Reno.

The knee was still swollen when she bowled 136, 125 and 144.

“I took two Tylenols before I bowled so it wouldn’t hurt,” she said.

Aileen, who has lived in Healdsburg since 1977, was born in Kennett, which now lies beneath Lake Shasta. Her family members were skiers, she said, “but not me. I don’t care for the snow.

“I’ve been exercising all my life. I was president of the Girls Athletic Association in high school. I love sports. I played baseball with young men. I had good health when I was young.”

She married twice, the second time for 62 years to Ralph Kauer, an assistant school superintendent in San Francisco who died in 2007. They had four sons.

Longevity is in her genes. Her mother died of a heart attack at 94, her father lived to 92, and her youngest brother is 78, Aileen said.

She began bowling when she was 23 and worked in the bookkeeping department of Brunswick Balke-Collender in San Francisco.

The company made billiard tables and expanded its products to include vulcanized rubber bowling balls, pins and bowling equipment. It made the first electronic, automatic scorekeeper in 1970, 10 years after it became the Brunswick Corporation.

“I worked there a year and a half,” she said. “I loved the company. They gave me bowling balls and bowling bags, and I had a professional bowling instructor.”

In her late 50s or early 60s, Aileen began bowling again. Until recently, she bowled three times a week. This year she cut out a practice session and bowls just on Mondays and Wednesdays.

She’s on the Sandbagger team with three men.

“It’s not a sanctioned league,” she said. “We bowl for fun. It keeps my legs working.”

Aileen is right handed, 5 feet tall, 103 pounds and takes four steps before releasing her 10-pound ball. She drives her Toyota Camry to Windsor Bowl and still does her own house and yard work.

Aileen maintains a 138 average; her highest score is 221.

“I haven’t been a top bowler, but I’m a good bowler,” she said. “I’m glad I can still do things. Otherwise I’d be up in heaven with my husband.”

Teammate Ken Liu, of Healdsburg, said Aileen is consistent with her average score.

“She’s a delight. She has a good sense of humor,” Liu said.

Windsor resident Margee Brownfield said a few weeks ago Aileen forgot to eat breakfast before bowling, so she ate chili fries and a hot dog at the lanes.

“It’s the Breakfast of Champions. We’re proud to know her,” Brownfield said.

Martin Wockenfuss, 91, of Cloverdale, has been bowling since 1992, and he too was toppling the pins at Windsor Bowl last week.

“I bowl here once a week and twice in Ukiah,” he said. “Some days are good, some not. Sometimes everything goes right. I don’t worry about it. It seems to help.”

Adds Aileen, “I just enjoy life, and I want my life to be good.”

A celebration of Aileen’s birthday will be held Monday at Windsor Bowl.

Contact Windsor Towns Correspondent James Lanaras at WindsorTownNews@gmail.com.