Man Fills Bowling Ball With Father's Ashes, Proceeds To Bowl Perfect Game

This might be the coolest story you read today.

John Hinkle Jr. is a two-time NCAA bowling champion from Western Illinois. Granted, those championships were won 20 years ago, but the man still knows how to knock down a pin or two.

He also had a tight relationship with his father, John Sr., who passed away back in 2016. You see, John's father actually introduced him and his brother, Joe, to bowling. It was a way for them to connect.

In order to honor his late father, John recently had his ashes put into the thumb hole of his bowling ball. He's a two-handed bowler, which means he doesn't use the thumb hole. John then proceeded to do something amazing.

“I was talking to my brother and told him, ‘I’m shooting a 300 with this ball,” Hinkle said, via WMBD-TV. “And Joe said, 'Do it!'”

Lo and behold, John did it. He bowled a 300 during a league night back on April 12, the first time using his new ball. It wasn't his first perfect game, but this one means way more to John and his brother.

“This makes up for so many nights growing up when we slept in a bowing alley while our parents were finishing league night,” his brother Joe said laughingly.

Talk about an emotional rollercoaster.

“It’s special. Dad shot 298, 299, never had a 300. I had goosebumps, chills,” John Hinkle later said. “He was there. This is the best (300 game) one, and definitely the hardest. I was shaking.”

Check out the news story in its entirety below. It's definitely worth watching.

Follow Clint Lamb on Twitter @ClintRLamb.