Clarence R. "Bud" Fowkes, a decorated archery coach for the U.S. Olympic team and other archers worldwide, died Thursday of natural causes at his home in Verona. He was 86.

Mr. Fowkes was a hunter who took up archery in 1947. A field artillery shell blast while he served in the Army three years earlier had damaged his ears, making firing guns painful, so he took up the bow instead.

He would go on to coach archery in 14 countries, guide the U.S. team through the infamous 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, coach several U.S. national archery champions, and design his own bows, crossbows and sights.

In 2003, the National Archery Association issued him its J. Maurice Thompson award, named after the body's founder, for outstanding and meritorious service to the sport.

"I still can't get enough of archery," Mr. Fowkes told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 1998. "I love it because I like the satisfaction of accomplishing something so dependent upon one's personal skills. I enjoy being competitive and striving to be the best at what I do, whether it is shooting, coaching, training coaches or designing archery equipment."

Mr. Fowkes graduated from Penn Hills High School in 1939 and was stationed with the Army in Alaska from 1941 to 1945, when he came back to Verona to marry his wife, Edith.

He spent his work days as a master mechanic making instruments at Gulf Research in Harmar. Concentrating on tiny details at both work and archery targets suited him well. He would work at Gulf from 1945 to 1982.

"He was a serious, serious fella. Things had to be perfect," Mrs. Fowkes said yesterday.

Mr. Fowkes competed in tournaments in the 1960s, but began spending more time coaching and repairing other archers' bows and sights. Three of his students won national championships during the decade and when the U.S. Olympic team fielded an archery squad in 1972, he was its coach.

It was a historic year. While archery is an ancient sport, it had been left out of the Olympics since 1920 due to squabbles over differing international rules.

At the same games, Palestinian terrorists murdered 11 Israeli athletes after holding them hostage in their apartment at the Olympic village. Mr. Fowkes watched the standoff from his own Olympic village balcony, then led his archers onto the field a few days later.

The competition that year was two medal events, one for men and one for women. U.S. archers John Williams and Doreen Wilber took the gold.

He went on to coach U.S. squads many more times, including at the World Field Championships in 1976, the Pan American games in 1979 and 1983 and the World Archery Championships in Australia in 1987. He would also coach archers in Australia, Bhutan, Canada, Dominican Republic, Germany, Israel, Mexico, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Sweden, Switzerland, Venezuela and Yugoslavia.

He co-authored the National Archery Association's Instructors Manual in 1982.

Students kept traveling to Verona to see Mr. Fowkes until he stopped coaching just 18 months ago, when his health began to fail, his wife said.

"There are no secret strategies in archery," Mr. Fowkes told the Post-Gazette. "It is a game of technique and tough concentration, where the emphasis is on making the fewest errors."

In addition to his wife, Mr. Fowkes is survived by his sister, Pearl Hawke of Syracuse, N.Y.; brother George of Plum; sons Robert of Penn Hills, James of Verona and Jeff of Verona; five grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Friends will be received from 1 to 4 p.m. tomorrow and 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Monday at Burket-Truby Funeral Home, 421 Allegheny Ave., Oakmont. A service will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Verona United Presbyterian Church at 566 South Ave., Verona 15147.

Memorial contributions may be made to the church.