Local legend celebrated

DESCRIBED as a quiet man, Brother Victor Bell has become a much-loved fixture in the Illawarra community and will soon celebrate his 90th birthday.

Br Bell is a Christian Brother who worked at Edmund Rice College in Wollongong from the 60s through to the late 80s.

Acting Headmaster of Edmund Rice College Brother Chris Peel has worked and lived with Br Bell in the past and said his standing in the community, and the respect he commanded from his pupils, stemmed largely from the fact he always thought the best of everyone.

"He thinks the best of all people. I've never heard him say a nasty thing about anyone," Br Peel said.

"The worst he's probably said is "?he means well'. That's the worst he would say about anyone.

"He's always got good things to say about young people; he says "?No, they're not worse than they used to be!'& (whereas) often when people get older they say the young people are undisciplined and they don't have good values."

Sometimes referred to as "ding-dong" by children, Brother Bell taught at Edmund Rice College between 1963 and 1988 and, although retired, still goes to the funerals of many former students and their parents.

Kath McGuinness, the Sacristan and Archivist at Edmund Rice, has also known Br Bell for many years. She described the 89-year-old as a legend.

"He's just always been a legend," she said. "No matter where you go in Wollongong people just want to know "?How's brother Bell?"

In his day Br Bell was a mathematics teacher for Edmund Rice College.

Br Peel said his students used to come to school early and climb on the windowsills of his classroom to peek through the windows at their test scores, which Br Bell always wrote on the board after a test.

Br Bell turns 90 on July 11. A celebration will be held in his honour on August 1 in Wollongong.

For further information contact Edmund Rice College by calling 4228 4344.