Mr. William Rea Bell, who was well known in angling, shooting and boating circles, passed away peacefully at South West Acute Hospital, Enniskillen, on Saturday, December 13, aged 75 years.

Rea was the only son of Andrew and Elizabeth Bell, late of Belmore Street, Enniskillen, and brother of Ruth, Margaret and Joyce.

On leaving school he took up employment in the office of Northern Ireland Railways although he spent many wonderful but illicit hours assisting the fireman on the steam engines.

Following closure of the Great Northern Railway in 1958 he took up employment as a knitter in Taylor Woods. After Taylor Woods closed, Rea joined the staff of J.F. Andrews and enjoyed working there for several years.

By this time he had married Phyllis (nee Gordon) and they had two sons, Gordon and Rodney. In 1966 Rea began work as a meter reader with the Electricity Board for Northern Ireland (later NIE) and travelled the country by motorbike before eventually acquiring a van. Following promotion to Senior Accounts Officer, Rea assumed management responsibility for the meter reading and support staff at NIE’s Enniskillen office where he remained until his early retirement in 1994.

A loving husband, father and grandfather, Rea showed his love for his family in many practical ways. He passed on his love of the lake and fishing to his two sons whom he regularly took out fishing on Lough Erne, and in later years to his beloved grandchildren.

He built wooden go-karts, sleighs and even a table tennis table that regularly attracted many young people to the shed at the back of the house; he painted and decorated for family and friends.

He built paths and a number of very elaborate stone walls and in between he fitted the odd bathroom and kitchen.

Rea was a keen game fisherman, being a loyal member of Enniskillen Anglers and Fermanagh Anglers’ Association for many years. He fished all of the big wild trout fisheries across Ireland accompanied by many good angling friends. In his younger days Rea was a keen wildfowler, regularly going on shooting trips with Enniskillen men, the Palmer and Browne brothers, and also with Kyle Gibson, a Belfast native and Maxol Oil employee who had relocated to Enniskillen.

For many years Rea had a keen interest in the clinker built wooden boats of Lough Erne, often visiting the late Howard Irvine’s workshop at the Buttermarket. He used the knowledge he acquired there to build a number of clinker wooden boats in a shed at the back of the family home.

Rea retired from NIE in 1994 to pursue his real passion for craftsmanship - in many ways that was only the start of his working life. He moved with the times: from the high-maintenance clinker-built boats to fitting out fibreglass fishing hulls - such was the quality of his woodwork that he had to turn away many disappointed fishermen.

In later years, Rea made over 40 wooden models of the Lough Erne clinker boat. Each model boat took over 90 hours to complete and incorporated 600 small brass pins in place of the copper nails used in the real thing.

Rea was a hard grafter - he just did not do “sitting down.” Eleven years ago, six weeks after having had a double bypass operation, he was on the roof of the family home removing the moss with a power washer.

Whilst his life’s work is over Rea has left his mark, literally: there are many fishing boats around the county and beyond that are evidence of his handiwork. The family homes bear the fruits of his labour, whether it be a garden wall, a fireplace, or a model boat. There are little pieces of concrete at various homes and fishing clubs indented with the letters R Bell and date of works completed. And just a couple of months ago he donated the last model boat he crafted to the Enniskillen Museum.

Rea leaves many friends behind and is missed dearly by his wife Phyllis, sons Gordon (Clodagh) and Rodney; grandchildren Christina, Russell, Cameron, Finlay and Lilyana; and sisters Ruth (Charlie), Margaret (David) and Joyce (Robert), nieces and nephews.

The funeral arrangements were efficiently carried out by Funeral Directors S. R. Elliott and Sons, Darling Street, Enniskillen.