Rip

[trece verde]

Sorry about the timeliness of this message; I only found out about this last night, speaking to a member of the O35 team. Cliff Avenue has lost two long-time members in the same weekend: Lee Bevilacqua and Oliver Bellet.

I first remember Lee from when I was a kid, pushing a liner around the gravel expanses of Kensington Park. He always seemed to be involved in the club, and while I never got to know him, I was always impressed by the amount of involvement he had with the game, and the time that he gave back to it. There are a lot of people in North Burnaby, and beyond, who know Lee.

Ollie's passing hit a lot closer to home: I'd known him since we were both 12; playing against each other for different teams in the Cliff Avenue juvenile system, and then through high school at Kensington and Burnaby North; just ahead of the strongest Cliff teams that produced players like Greg Ion and Larry Dill. He was a friendly guy who always seemed to have smile for you. After high school, I saw him infrequently until we both hit the Over 30's; and ran into him and the other Cliff old boys more often. Ollie lost a battle to a tumour that did in his liver, and took him at the young age of 41.

Talking to Jim Best, Ollie's team mate and manager, and good friend of his, Cliff Avenue will honour him in their next game (against my team) by playing in white with 10 players and the missing man in his spot. His name will be left on the team list as on the roster. He will very definitely be missed.

Sincerest condolences to the families of both.

Stew, Kathy, Andy and Jesse Woolverton
Killarney Spurs
Cliff Avenue Wolves 1970-1977