Obituary:  Elizabeth Barger

09/98  FREDERICK, Md. (AP) -- Elizabeth ``Toots'' Barger, a legendary duckpin bowler who won every local tournament championship, every major duckpin tournament in the nation and held every world record in a career that spanned nearly a quarter of a century, died of cancer Monday. She was 85.

Mrs. Barger, who in 1961 became the second woman and the first female bowler to be inducted into the Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame, was nicknamed ``Tootsie'' by an aunt. She later shortened it to ``Toots'' and always wore it emblazoned on her colorful bowling shirts.

She began her career in 1939, and by the time she retired in 1961, she had been rated No. 1 in the country 13 times. In her prime, Mrs. Barger hurled the 3-pound, 10-inch balls at the 12-inch-high pins with such precision she averaged 128 per game. She donated a signed bowling ball and a pair of her bowling shoes to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, where they are on display.