Frank Ennis, national dart champion and retired business owner, has died at 90

Frank Ennis, 90, of Drexel Hill, national dart champion, retired owner of Delco Graphics Inc., veteran, and magazine cover man, died Friday, Nov. 17, of age-associated decline at Paoli Hospital.

Mr. Ennis, a natural-born competitor and longtime salesman, went from South Philly dart hustler in the 1960s to national champion in the 1970s and ‘80s, and the cover of Bull’s Eye News magazine in 1988. Nicknamed Mr. Consistency, he won several national tournaments, was runner-up in many others, and traveled to England three times, including in 1980 when he finished among the top 32 at the World Masters competition.

He won national titles in 1974 and 1976 at the Cleveland Extravaganza, in 1985 at the Ultimate Challenge II in Las Vegas, and in 1987 at the Lucky Lights St. Patrick’s Spring Classic in San Diego. He also earned many local and regional championships and was ranked among the best players in the world for years.

He shared his life story and secrets to success with Bull’s Eye News in its July/August 1988 issue and said: “I really enjoy, like most people who play this game, the competitiveness that we all have against each other. I don’t know if it’s unusual, but I even enjoy watching great games.”

Mr. Ennis grew up playing darts with his father in their basement on Durfor Street in South Philadelphia. He eventually fell in with other neighborhood darters, hustled victories with a pool-playing buddy in local bars, and joined what is now the Quaker City English Dart League.

He became so good that The Inquirer, Daily News, Washington Post, and other publications covered his many successes in front of the board. Both The Inquirer and Daily News wrote about his exhibition victory over a visiting world champion from England in 1974, and dart manufacturer Fansteel inscribed his name on one of its signature series.

Darters in Philadelphia named their annual Frank Ennis Match Play Tournament in his honor.

Mr. Ennis always said that practice was important, but he reveled most in the pressure when money was on the line. He was proud to be a gracious loser, and author George Silberzahn highlighted his career in the 2004 book How to Master the Sport of Darts.

He switched from the baseball-like American scoring system to the countdown English version in 1973, and went on to play in New York, Chicago, Houston, Washington, Virginia Beach, England, Canada, and elsewhere.

He worked in sales at Uarco printers for 15 years before establishing Delco Graphics and selling his own business forms in the mid-1970s. He retired in 2013. “I will always remember his sweet and kind way,” a friend said in an online tribute, “and his Irish wit.”

Francis Xavier Ennis was born Aug. 18, 1933. He grew up in South Philadelphia and played sports of all sorts in the neighborhood.

He graduated from Southeast Catholic High School, now Sts. John Neumann and Maria Goretti High, and served in Germany with the Army during the Korean War. He married Peggy Reynolds in 1958, and they had daughters Jane, Noreen, Barbara and Kristine, and son Tom.

He moved from Philadelphia to Drexel Hill in the 1960s and was active at St. Bernadette of Lourdes parish. Generally reserved, he usually opened up during one-on-one encounters, and he reunited often with a lifelong group he called his Forever Friends. “He had a charisma and charm that made him a friend to people who knew him for five years or five minutes,” his family said in a tribute.

Mr. Ennis was a lifelong Eagles and Phillies fan. He sneaked into old Shibe Park to watch the Athletics in the 1940s and later took his transistor radio to the beach at Sea Isle and Ocean City to keep tabs on the Phillies.

He had Eagles season tickets for four decades and talked often of attending their 1960 NFL championship victory at Franklin Field. He read newspapers every day to keep up on current events and threw memorable Christmas Eve and Octoberfest parties.

He told Bull’s Eye News that his wife and children, though not darters themselves, always supported his love for the game. “They get a kick out of it when I come home and I show some extra money from winning,” he told the magazine. “They all love that. It’s the same everywhere. Everybody loves a winner.”

His son said: “He was a wonderful man and a great father.”

His daughter Jane said: “He was most proud of his marriage to Peggy and their children they raised together.”

In addition to his wife and children, Mr. Ennis is survived by 10 grandchildren, a sister, and other relatives. Two brothers and a sister died earlier.

Services were held Nov. 21.

Donations in his name may be made to St. Bernadette of Lourdes Parish, 1035 Turner Ave., Drexel Hill, Pa. 19026.