David Bell, one in a long line of great shot putters from Newton North, passed away yesterday at the age of 28 from brain cancer.
Bell excelled in track & field and football at Newton North, Northfield Mt. Herman, and the University of Rhode Island. Bell graduated from NNHS in 2002. During the indoor track season that winter, he won the shot put at the State Coaches meet (55-6.5) and finished 6th at the National Scholastic Championships, earning All-American.
After NNHS, Bell attended Northfield Mt. Herman for a year. While there, he set the NMH school record in the shot put (56-0), which still stands, and earned All-New England honors in both football and track. At URI, Bell continued to compete in the throws for four years while earning a B.A. in Sociology.
After graduation from URI, Bell had been working as a group leader for YMCA of Boston. In the fall of 2011, he served as a volunteer coach for the Newton North Football team. He had hoped to do the same for the track team, but his illness made that impossible.
I had the good fortune to start as an assistant with Newton North in the spring of 2001, so I got to watch David his senior year. He was a great competitor and a real leader. He could throw an iron ball a long way, but he was quick and graceful as a big cat. It's hard to believe that someone so full of life has left us so early.
7 comments:
Nice comments Jon. What stood out was how soft spoken and sincere he was for such big guy. I used to take him home after Saturday and vacation practices and got to know him well. He had a great upbringing from a wonderful and proud mother. She always met me at her door and thanked me for helping "her boy". She never missed a meet and saw us off to NY for the Nationals with a reminder that my job was " to keep her boy safe". Her boy will be remembered as a beautiful young man who didn't get the chance to help others as he had wanted. However, we were very fortunate to have David in our lives.
David was one of my favorite athletes I ever coached. I was his throwing coach at NMH and owed him a pizza or five after breaking the record and being All-New England.
We always had little bets going.
Such a fine man and always had a smile on his face. I feel very blessed to have been able to have him in my life.
I had the fortune of being a teammate of Dave's for three years at Newton North. Despite being one of the most physically imposing athletes at the school, Dave was gentle, soft spoken, and always had a smile on his face that rubbed off on those around him.
Dave was a key contributor to our 2002 State Championship team. I regret that I didn't have an opportunity to thank him for helping all of us to such a memorable accomplishment. While we knew Dave as an athlete, clearly his impact reached much further. We are all blessed to have had him in our lives. Dave will be missed.
During the time that David was competing for track team at the University of Rhode Island, his career was interrupted by seizures, operations, chemotherapy and rehab, but his contribution to the team and the staff were immeasurable.
His smile, attitude and sense of humor were a pleasure to be around. More importantly, his courage was an inspiration to all who came in contact with him.
I am forever thankful for the time I got to spend with David while he was at URI. I am also glad that I was able to spend some time with David in January, 2012.
David was an exceptional person, a model for all of us. We love you David.
I am so sorry to hear this terrible news. While I didn't know David very well, I do remember him as a high school classmate. David was a funny guy who loved to crack jokes. It's really a shame. We will all miss him.
- Andrew Gerst
David Bell was my camp counselor in 2009. He is an inspiration to all of the lives he touched at Camp Winadu. We all miss him.
Funeral for David will be tomorrow at 10:30 am at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, 1545 Tremont St. Roxbury Crossing.That's Thursday, 2/16.
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