The passing of a true hero - Louis Bell - Sea Shepherd Freo/Perth Founder/Coordinator - Conservationists / Passionate/Wise/Cheeky/Welcoming and Loving Father and Husband. - funeral details below Dear Beautiful Sea Shepherd people, It with a very heavy heart and a lump in my throat that I am writing to let you know of the passing of a man that has inspired, motivated and welcomed so many of us with open arms. Louis Bell, father, husband, conservationists, Geologist, founder and head of Sea Shepherd in Perth, well WA, has passed away on Monday 20th of October, with his beautiful wife Alice by his side. Louis died as a result of a heart attack, and what a massive heart Louis had, he shared it with so many of us. Now each of us have Louis in our own hearts and minds. I know we are all feeling much like the wind has been taken out of sails, that constant ache in the stomach. I know myself wish I had of spent more time with this great mate, to have stayed longer and had that beer after a stall or an event with Louis. However, we must all cherish and thank the wonderful times we got to spend with Louis over the years. To give thanks to Alice and family for sharing this cheeky / smart / passionate and caring man with us all. The whales and the greater whale loving people of the world owe Louis a debt of gratitude for he was a monumental driving force for Sea Shepherd in WA. I know that my wife Marina and I would not be involved with Sea Shepherd if it were not for Louis welcoming us to the Fremantle chapter with open arms and showing amazing support and leadership on many levels. We were instantly made to feel like one of the team (like countless others). We all also owe his wife Alice and family this same debt of gratitude in sharing the big man with us all. We feel so privileged and honoured to call Louis our mate, to spend time with him and share the odd beer. Louise, you will always be in our hearts and minds as a driving force for conservation. We will miss you Louis, our dearest friend, someone we thought of as family. Louiss family would love for anyone that loved spending time with him to be invited to come and say goodbye and celebrate his life on Friday 31st of October. ==== Funeral details are: Friday 31st of October, 10am at Fremantle Cemetery (WA) - West Chapel (corner Carrington St and Leach Hwy) === So lets all come together, to celebrate Louiss wonderful life, in support of Louis and his beautiful family, a man that lived life to the full every single day, to celebrate this beautiful man that we all came to love and to call our mate. Lets all share a story or two about his cheekiness, his love and passion for life. We all have our special stories, from Iam doing event poster drops around town, to welcoming Alex Cornelissen and the Farley back in 2006, to his love of heavy metal gigs. We all have lovely memories to share. Here are some comments from a couple of our captains, more to come from Paul Watson to come shortly. “I will always remember the warm welcome Louis Bell and the Freo chapter gave us when we escaped from South Africa in 2006. On my first trip as Sea Shepherd Captain, we received a heroes welcome upon arrival in WA. Louis’ enthusiasm and dedication were inspiring. I considered Louis a friend from that day on and looked forward to every visit we paid. Unfortunately there were too few and they were too far apart. I cannot look forward to the next visit, even though I truly love WA, I will not be able to shake the void I will encounter. We have started calling you Sea Shepherd’s one-million dollar man but to me you were priceless. I will miss you Louis. My deepest sympathy to Alice and family.” -- Captain Alex Cornelissen Sea Shepherd is a movement to save marine wildlife and Louis Bell knew what his role in that movement was - to be on the front-lines, every day, raising the money to get the Sea Shepherd ships to sea. Whenever I would speak to audiences about the passion that makes Sea Shepherd special, Louis was always the person who I held up as the exemplification of what makes Sea Shepherd unique. He dedicated his life to making it possible for my crew and myself to save whales. Sea Shepherd often states that our clients are the whales and that it is to them that we are answerable. Well - on every campaign that I ever participated in, I knew that I was also answerable to Louis. Because Louis was the real deal and Louis cared about tangible and direct results - whales saved. Louis kept me humble, he kept me honest, he kept me motivated and he kept me focused. And because he was in my heart, and on my mind, during every campaign since the first time that I met him - I feel devastated that I have lost not just a good friend, but also one of my most committed and loyal crewmen. -- Captain Peter Hammarstedt Louis taught us to love and live life to the full. To be kind, compassionate and to see the good in people, to have fun and be a little bit cheeky along the way. Louis loved Paul Watson and Sea Shepherd, he loved people and organisations that actually delivered on promises, that actually did something and delivered results, I guess thats why he loved Sea Shepherd so much, to deliver results and to push the boundaries, thats how Louis lived. Bring your stories and that same zest for life that Louis inspired in us all. Louis, we will miss you dearly, but you will always be in our hearts and minds. Deepest sympathy and support to Alice and family from all of us at Sea Shepherd. Lots a love and whale hugs to all, Jeff Hansen, Managing Director Sea Shepherd Australia DEFEND CONSERVE PROTECT We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. What is the legacy you will leave behind?
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 08:39:31 +0000
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