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Bobby was a man of the people and a true gentleman. I remember him being so gracious to me at the first fan fest the team had put on when i went up to him and introduced myself. He introduced me to his wonderful wife Kay and thanked me for my support of the team. I remember coming away from that encounter with a smile on my face a mile wide. I have chatted with him a half dozen times since then, and every time he was a great guy. I loved him wearing one of our Lionbackers pins we made for grey cup '06 at the LionsDen party at the Delta Hotel. I remember looking over at him. He was smiling and mingling and having a great time. You could tell that he loved Canadian Football. You can tell Canadian Football loved him too.

The Lions will never be the same without him. He made us all proud to wear the orange and black.

What can I possibly add to what has already been said here today? We will miss you Bobby....thanks for your many years of dedication to the BC Lions, and Canadian Football.

hoons

Absolutely gutted. This is a tremendous loss to the Ackles family, the BC Lions organization, the province of BC and the Canadian Football League.

RIP Mr. Bob Ackles.

huge loss for our club

One of the nicest people I've ever met

This is very saddening. I could hardly believe it when i saw it.

Terrible, terrible news. :no:

Thank you for saving the British Columbia Lions, and for all other joy you brought to so many people, Mr. Ackles.

Rest in peace -- you are a B.C. hero.

Oh man, I'm sittng here stunned. I just got out of the hospital after 2 weeks & was looking forward to sitting down for a good read. Oh man... the HEART of the BC Lions is gone..... Oh man...
Thank you Bob Ackles, God bless.
My condolences to the Ackles family.

In Belize there is an expression that goes "no wait for man dead to say he good". I think Bob Ackles knew how we all felt about him.

But in case Mr. Braley checks these boards, I want to also thank him for everything he's done for our BC Lions and to especially thank him for bringing Bobby home to the BC Lions where he belonged.

lion24's post hit me pretty hard; I had forgotten the laughter in Bob's voice at Grey Cup 2007.

I had just left a wonderful afternoon at Football 202 today when I heard the news. I wanted to go back, but I couldn't. It was a long ferry ride back with no one to talk to or cry with. I had met Bob a few times (most recently at this year's TC), and every time, no matter what he was doing, he always had a smile and a few minutes for a fan. Always. This is one of my treasured pictures from Fanfest 2006. He was in a hurry to be somewhere else, but when I asked him if I could please get a picture, he stopped and posed with me:



We've lost a member of the family, and the world is a little colder today. Peace be with you, Bob.

Very very sad news. My condolences to Bob's family, the Lions organization, and Lions fans. We lost one of the Good ones. Rest in peace.

Can somebody do a quick edit of the lion on the BC Lions' logo and put a tear under the lions' eye ?

That pretty much sums it ups.

Huge loss, tragic day. W all know how much he did for this franchise and that's what makes it worse. RIP

Another memory of Bobby Ackles that comes to mind was actually a reminicince of Bobby Ackles not being with our Leos. It was 1986 and Bobby Ackles had gone to the Dallas Cowboys and Joe Galat had been hired as our GM.

There was always a party at the end of training camp, at Mike McLaughlin's place on the ocean. A band called Desperation Jazz Band was playing, the food was always spectacular, catered by the Old House. But something was missing and the evening just didn't have the same feeling and it was obvious that everyone missed Bobby Ackles. There were a number of discussions that evening about what a classy, smart guy he was and all who spoke wished him well....and many commented with pride about how Bobby was going to such a prominent football organization in the U.S. It was BIG. It really didn't get much bigger than the Dallas Cowboys and Jimmy Johnson in those days.

It really never felt the same until Bobby Ackles returned to B.C. He just was Mr. B.C. Lion...and his return home to our province and the B.C. Lions was such a wonderful announcement. All felt right again and while things were tough when he returned you just knew that he was going to turn things around into something special again....and he did!!

Blitz wrote:Another memory of Bobby Ackles that comes to mind was actually a reminicince of Bobby Ackles not being with our Leos. It was 1986 and Bobby Ackles had gone to the Dallas Cowboys and Joe Galat had been hired as our GM.

There was always a party at the end of training camp, at Mike McLaughlin's place on the ocean. A band called Desperation Jazz Band was playing, the food was always spectacular, catered by the Old House. But something was missing and the evening just didn't have the same feeling and it was obvious that everyone missed Bobby Ackles. There were a number of discussions that evening about what a classy, smart guy he was and all who spoke wished him well....and many commented with pride about how Bobby was going to such a prominent football organization in the U.S. It was BIG. It really didn't get much bigger than the Dallas Cowboys and Jimmy Johnson in those days.

It really never felt the same until Bobby Ackles returned to B.C. He just was Mr. B.C. Lion...and his return home to our province and the B.C. Lions was such a wonderful announcement. All felt right again and while things were tough when he returned you just knew that he was going to turn things around into something special again....and he did!!

And I am sure he was probably in knots watching the team crumble the years he had left while he was in the NFL and XFL.