When this year’s Altoona Mirror Bowler of the Year Tournaments kicked off with the senior competitions Monday afternoon at the Holiday Bowl lanes, one very important person wasn’t present.

Esther Poorman, the long-time media liaison between the area bowling community and the media, including the Mirror, died at the age of 89 last month after an extended illness.

Her absence was keenly felt by many of the bowlers present Monday for the Senior Men’s and Senior Women’s Bowler of the Year events.

“I always liked Esther — she was really good for the bowlers of Altoona,” said Ralph Hamilton, 72, of Altoona, who has won the Men’s Bowler of the Year championship four times and the Senior Men’s Bowler of the Year title once.

Poorman, who had been an avid bowler herself for 60 years, had dutifully compiled the scores of all the area bowlers and submitted the scores weekly to the Altoona Mirror for many years. The scores were used to determine eligibility for the Bowler of the Year and Senior Bowler of the Year Tournaments each May.

“She was great at getting the scores into the newspaper, and everybody knew what they needed to do in order to be eligible for the Bowler of the Year Tournament,” Hamilton said.

Poorman was also inducted into the Altoona District USBC Bowling Association’s Hall of Fame in 2013.

“She certainly deserved to get elected into (the Hall of Fame) for everything that she did,” Hamilton said.

Larry Rupp, 75, of Altoona, who has been the runner-up three times in the Men’s Senior Bowler of the Year Tournament, said that Poorman will be sorely missed.

“She did a lot for the bowling community, being involved with these Senior Bowler of the Year and Bowler of the Year Tournaments every year,” Rupp said. “I was so thankful that we had her doing the job of keeping and reporting the scores for so many years. We’re going to miss her.”

Clair Banks, Jr. of Roaring Spring, who won the championship in the Men’s 70-and-over competition Monday, said that Poorman — who was formerly the president of the Altoona Women’s Bowling Association and had been a member of the Bavarian Aid Society — was friendly and personable.

“I remember when I left the Martinsburg league and came here to bowl in the Altoona leagues, Esther was the one of the first people to welcome me,” said the 70-year-old Banks. “She was definitely fun to be around, she had a good sense of humor, and she wanted to have everybody around her smiling.”

Pat Conrad, 85, of East Freedom, was bowling in the Senior Women’s Bowler of the Year competition Monday. Conrad said that she has been bowling for 60 years, and knew Poorman for as long as she has been bowling.

“Esther was a super person,” Conrad said. “She was easy to get along with, and she got a lot of people interested in bowling.”