Bowler Suffers Heart Attack, Dies, One Strike From a Perfect Game

Dennis Coleto was one strike away from racking up his fifth perfect bowling game this year. But after his 11th strike in a game last Thursday, Coleto suffered a heart attack and died.

“The night before he died, he told me he just wanted one check from the PBA,” said Glen Coleto, the Fremont man’s younger brother.

“He was ready for the professionals. He just didn’t have the money (to go on tour),” he said.

Coleto, 33, had been bowling since he was a teen-ager and was popular throughout the Bay Area leagues with an average of 221.

Coleto bowled three sanctioned perfect 300 games this year and a fourth perfect game that was unsanctioned, Glen Coleto said.

A native of the Philippines, Coleto came to the United States in 1966 with his parents. He recently began a job as a computer operator.

Besides his wife and brother, Coleto is survived by his parents, two sisters, a daughter and two sons.