A grandstand at Walker Park, Yass, was named after Ken Bell in recognition of his long service to the local sports community. Photo: Supplied.
When his children were young, Ken Bell would often visit the Yass Cemetery, the older section, to show them where “their Old People lay”.
The far corner of the Yass Cemetery was reserved for Aboriginal people, a separate section from the other parts of the burial ground. It was the place where many people who lived on the then-Aboriginal mission were laid to rest. Ken, according to his son Michael, would make the visual connection between the former sight of Hollywood Mission and the line of Aboriginal graves, many of whom were Bells.
William Kenneth (Ken) Bell, a proud Wallabalooa/Ngunnawal man, spent his early life on Hollywood Mission, something he didn’t talk much about, according to Michael, but clearly an important part of his past – and the man he became.
Today, Michael, his sister Louise, brother Mark and their extended families are celebrating the life of the Ngunnawal elder who died on 12 June. He was 78.
Michael said Ken, known to many as “Dad, Pop, Uncle Ken, Brother Ken, Kenny, KB, Sir, The Old Shady Fella and King of the Yass Show”, had many names because he meant different things to so many people.
Born in Yass on 10 October, 1946, he was the first child of Alex and Kate Bell (nee Talbot), brother to Charlie (dec), Kevin (dec), Jean, Michael (dec), Dennis (dec), Kathy (dec), Yvonne (dec) and Uncle Aggie (Andrew).
But it was a little railway siding at Coolalie, between Yass and Gunning, that Michael said his father found his connection to Country.
“Coolalie was where Dad found comfort in the bush,” Michael told the crowd gathered to celebrate Ken Bell’s life on Friday, 28 June, at Walker Park, Yass – where guests were asked to dress in the colours of his beloved Yass Magpies (white and black). It was also to recognise Ken as the first Indigenous coach of Yass Rugby League juniors and seniors from the mid-1960s.
Michael said his father was not a great fan of the classroom, preferring to be outside – “Combined with the restrictions around Aboriginal school attendance and the need to contribute to the family finances, Dad didn’t enjoy a long academic career.”
A jack of all trades, Ken’s strong work ethic earned him a good name around town and throughout the Yass Valley.
“He would roam the paddocks to pick up the dead wool to sell to ensure he had train fare to travel to Yass on the weekends to participate in sporting and social events,” Michael said. “These visits to town would create the basis for his friendships and networks that would serve him his entire life.”
Later work as a roustabout in the shearing sheds took Ken to Kamilaroi Country, Moree, where he met, courted and married Pamela Joyce Cain, a marriage and partnership that endured for nearly 60 years.
The newlyweds returned to Yass, first at Coolalie, where Ken continued working in the sheds, but the uncertainty of the industry led him to try his luck in Canberra for work.
“It’s in this period Dad installed the retaining walls on Capitol Hill in Canberra, now the site of new Parliament House, and as he would have you believe, by himself,” Michael said. “It was a great point of pride for him as he would always mention this during our many trips to Canberra’s south for Sunday footy.”
In later years, he was “employed” by the Goodradigbee Shire, which was to become Yass Valley Council.
“I use the word “employed” here advisedly as Dad would often be heard to say, ‘I don’t work for the shire, I show up and do what they tell me’.”
This proved to be true years later when, as retirement loomed, not a scrap of paperwork about his “employment” with the council could be found.
“As Dad described it, he went out to the side of the road at O’Brien Street every morning and they kept picking him up and he had a pay packet every Friday.”
When the Hollywood Mission closed in 1960, the Bells were allocated a home by the Aborigines Welfare Directorate – one of only six families allowed to stay in Yass because of their standing in the community.
In his later years, Ken began working with Aboriginal groups such as the Onerwal Lands Council, Housing Co-op and Ngunnawal Aboriginal Corporation, where he served as chief adviser to his cousin/brother Uncle Eric.
Ken Bell was honoured to be invited to carry the baton for the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Photo: Supplied.
“As I was growing up, I didn’t really realise the impact, reach and magnitude of Dad’s contribution to the Yass community until very recently and more so after he passed and the outpouring of messages we received,” Michael said.
He told Friday’s gathering that “today is not about crying for the life lost, it’s about remembering why he was here and how he touched each of us. He leaves a hole in the family that cannot be filled.
“These are the life lessons Dad gave to me and I can share with you: look a man in the eye when you shake his hand, use your manners and be respectful.”
Yara Djan Yimaba (goodbye and thanks).
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