The B.C. Lions and the city of Vancouver have lost a legend. Lions president Bob Ackles passed away Sunday morning at his weekend home on Bowen Island, aged 69. The cause of death is believed to be a heart attack.

Ackles started with the Lions as a waterboy back in 1953 and worked his way up through the ranks eventually reaching the post of general manager from 1975, a post he held through 1986.

He left the Lions and the Canadian Football League to pursue jobs in the NFL and later with the upstart XFL.

But he returned to the Lions den as president in 2002, and was the leading force behind the resurgence of the football team on Vancouver's sporting scene and, more importantly, in this city's corporate community.

Ackles is survived by his wife Kay, sons Scott and Steve, and four grandchildren.

For more on Ackles read here and here.  

There will be more coverage on Straight.com on Thursday, as well as in the printed edition of the Straight, which is distributed across the Lower Mainland.