CONDOLENCES TO CAROL AND FAMILY ..DAVO

On behalf of the Bellett car club of Victoria we are saddened by the loss of Ken. A mentor to many in the club with his depth of knowledge, not only on Belletts. I would like to offer our condolences to the Bloor family. We are thinking of you during this time.

Peter McKill
Secretary.

To Carol: it is truly difficult to know what to say to comfort you at this saddest of times; I can only take comfort in knowing you have the most heartfelt thoughts and wishes of our - your - extended Bellett family/community with you at this time. Having met you and Ken for the first time at the 09 Adelaide Nationals, I was touched by the warm and welcoming manner in which you both approached me... a genuine warmth that continued through to our recent time at Coona.

There was nothing that Ken didn't know about these cars we all love. His knowledge will be missed, but it's nowhere near how much we will miss his larger than life personality, his cheekiness, and his opinions. I had already treasured the late nights talking Belletts with you and Ken and the others at the last two Nationals... and I'm glad I'll get to remember Ken in this way.


To Brett: My memories of Ken will always include you mate; I can only imagine how hard this sad news has hit you, so thank you for giving us all the opportunity to remember Ken in this forum.


And to Ken: Thanks big fella for the warmth you showed me, and the good times had chatting Belletts. You will be sincerely missed.


Paul.

To the Bloor family and extended bellett family, so deeply sorry for our loss. Although Ken was close to many, we will also miss PR90's banter and sharing of knowledge on B'net.

Brett, I have a distinct memory of yourself and Ken thumbing over my GT at the Bellett nationals SA in 2009. This memory stays with me for ever.

B.

thanks guys.

yes, it is tough, very tough, but please don't worry about me.
lets all focus on and support the Bloor family, and also remember the life of our mate, Ken, through our memories and thoughts during this terrible time.

cheers.

*Details for the memorial service of the late Mr Ken Bloor listed below

posting at the request of Carol:
here are the details for Ken's memorial service.

service is on Friday, 17/12/10 (this coming Friday), at 1.00pm.
held at:
Mt Gravatt Crematoruim, Chapel and Memorial Gardens.
Mains Road.
MacGregor.
*please note, this is the 'little' Mt Gravatt Crem. and Mem. Gardens in MacGregor, NOT the big one at Mt Thompson.

also, after chatting with the Bloor family today, it's hoped that we may have a 'guard of honour' of Belletts, Wasp's and Florian's there on the day to pay tribute to Ken in the best way that his "Bellett family" knows.
at the time of writting this post, details for this have not been arranged yet, but if you are likely to attend Ken's memorial service, then please consider bringing your car, not matter it's condition, and I'll keep you all informed of further developments as they happen.
and as before, if anyone wants to contact me in the mean time, feel free to do so.

cheers.
Brett.

Hi people,

I won't personally be attending, but will be sending our condolances to the family on behalf of ourselves and the wider Bellett.net community. Obviously this does not preclude you sending your own, individual condolance messages/flowers/etc

Dave

Sincerest condolences to Carol and the Bloor family on the shock passing of Ken,
A privilage to have met you at Coona,our thoughts are with you at this sad time,
Regards Gerry

In 2007, brother Joe and myself attended our first Bellett National in Corowa. This was my introduction to a
''Bellett Enthusiast'' who welcomed me to his family. Joe had previously been in contact with Ken, sometime
in the '70s or '80's. When , I am not sure. Joe told me that Ken and Carol had purchased parts for their Belletts.
Ken's knowledge on the subject was mind boggeling. His enthusiasm and repertoir was overwhelming.
In '07,'08,'09 nationals I had said that I would get a car going and be there with it. On a few phone calls to him
and Carol in 2010, I would give them a rundown on how I was going and trying to get, not 1, but 2 cars there.
When I had advised him that I coudn't get the sedan to 'Coona', and I was trailering the GT, his encouraging
voice will never be forgotten. When I did get there,his eyes glissened. Yesssss!. Another Isuzu to the collection.

Ken. Words cannot express the great admiration and respect that myself and my family have for you. You will
be sadly missed.
Carol. Our condolences to you and your family on this sad loss. Our thoughts are with you.

Dave,Cameron, Julie & Joe.

*Further info about the memorial service for the late Mr Ken Bloor.

Hi all.
It's been decided that a 'guard of honour' at the memorial service for our mate Ken would be a great idea, and a fitting tribute to his memory.
I would sincerly like to thank Carol and the Bloor family for allowing us, Ken's 'Bellett family', the opportunity to remember him with the things we associate most with him.... our cars.
As posted above, the details for the location and time of the service remain.
But if you are intending on bringing your Bellett, Wasp, or Florian, I ask a few small things....

1, Please contact me in ASAP to let me know that you'll be bringing your car, or cars, so that i know how many to expect and can allow enuf space for us all.
2, The service is due to start at 1.00pm, but as we would like to park all of the cars together, could you please arrive a bit earlier so we can get all of them in position before most people arrive.
3, We are 99% sure that we'll be parking the cars at the front door/driveway area of the chapel, but please DO NOT just drive up there and park until you are directed by me to do so. As this is a memorial chapel that also has other services taking place before and after Ken's service, we certainly do not want to upset or offend anyone by doing the wrong thing.
and 4, i know that our cars aren't exactly the quietest cars on the planet, so i ask that discression is used out of respect for everyone at all times.

i think u all have my phone number, so give me a call about your attendance on Friday.
i check the forum a couple of times most days, so those that don't have my number, just PM me and i'll reply with my number so we can chat.

cheers, and here's to a good turn-out for Ken.
Brett.

I extend my sincere thoughts of sympathy to Carol and her family in this time of grief. I had only got to know Ken, Carol, Adam, Carly and Russell since reigniting my interest in car showing in 2007 when I attended the Classic Japanese show n shine in Brisbane. Since then we have been together at a number of shows including Coona, where Ken would joke about the good old days and relate to me the latest Bellett ailments he was trying to fix on one of his cars!

Again, I wish the Bloor family the best path to healing especially at a time near Christmas.

Lewis.

My sincere condolences to the Bloor family, and to all who feel such a great loss at his passing.

As a newcomer here I never met Ken personally, but from the dealings I had with him regarding the calendar it was clear he was a top bloke. Some may notice that on the calendar his wife Carol is shown as the owner - this was at Ken's suggestion, he knew she would get a kick out of seeing that.

Vic

great point there Vic.
and thats was Ken to a tee....

also, those that receive Vic's awesome calendar will notice that the month with Carol's PR90 pic has Ken in the background (in the red shirt, having a chat.... surprise surprise!).
I know I'll be stopping what I'm doing at the moment I turn to that month (I don't what month it is as yet because my copies haven't arrived yet) and just remember....
cheers.

Thinking of you today Ken.
You may not be with us but you will be remembered.

God bless.

Cheers
Rob

hi all.
well, friday was a tough day for many in the bellett world, both those who could be at Ken's funeral, and also those that couldn't make it.
i'll post a few pics soon of the cars that came along, but the Bloor family were deeply touched by the amount of people attending, and the 100 seat chapel was totally full, including many standing down each side of the chapel, and also outside to the side and rear of the chapel building. it's been estimated that there were 200-250 people there, from family, friends, work colleagues, bellett family, fishing family, you name it. from my point of view, it was great to see the many aspects of Ken's life come together in one place to remember him.
apart from Nicole, Be and myself, from our little corner of the world, i'd like to thank for attending:
BELLETT69 (steve & peg), gt orphanage & leadfoot liz (greg & liz), isabell grand tourer (geoff & christine), OPR-910 (lindsay), Early GT (Lewis), Stickman (Geoff), BELLQLD (Davo) and WASP65 (Ocka & Trish) for coming along and paying respects to Ken and his family, and an extra thank-you for those that brought their cars along as well. also, Ken's had car-mates from other areas, and it was great to see them attend too, again, some with their cars as well. added to this, the guys and girls at isuzu ute australia (IUA) were deeply saddend by Ken's passing, and some of the guys took time out of their busy schedules to attend, which was a very kind thing to do.
i know alot of people from the bellett world also contacted the Bloor family and myself in the week leading up to friday, and i'd also like to thank all those that passed on messages of condolence, not to mention the kind gift of a flowers from the users of bellett.net, the members of the BCCV, and all at IUA.

on a personal note, i'd like to give my sincerest thanks to Carol for asking me to drive Ken's Florian to and from his funeral.
Carol, you know it wasn't the easiest thing to do, but i was determined to do it for Ken, and it was something that i'll never forget.
i was truly honoured. thank you....
also, a big thank you to byron, russell and anne for being the wonderful people you are. you all know where i'm coming from, but i just wanted to say "thanks" on here from us 'mexicans'....

cheers.
brett.

I haven´t visited your site for a long time. But now I did... I took my letter archive and red all the letters I got from Ken and Carol Bloor during the years. We sent information about Isuzus in Australia and Finland, some parts, stickers, club magazines and Isuzu videos. Ken writes about one video that he hasn´t seen Isuzu Bellett rallying in snow before. Once I mentioned that I haven´t found anywhere Bellett GT radio aerials and nearly all the few Finnish GT:s left are without aerials because of the rally history. Ken told that he can get them and he was very helpfull and sold us so many we needed. So, nearly all Finnish GT:s have now an aerial Ken send us. I also met Ken in Canberra meeting 1993. Great guy!

In one letter dated 10 January, 1994 Ken wrotes: "We had a drink for you". Now I will have one for him.

Well spoken; Ken's passing has had a lasting effect on the Bellett community world wide - perhaps a greater effect than he would have imagined.

Antti's post has prompted me to think of the future of this thread; as initially discussed with PR91 Brett, the post was to inform people of Ken's passing and proceeding arrangements, and of course to supply Bellett enthusiasts for an outlet for their condolences.

I will discuss the future of this thread with Brett PR91; we will need to move the post as Ken cannot stay on the front page forever. Antti's belated and heartfelt toast to Ken from the other side of the globe was perhaps a good way to close it off; testament to the massive ripple effect his sudden passing had on us all.

As I generally only saw him once per year at the Nationals, when I think of Ken it takes me a moment to realise he can no longer contribute to our community, our passion and our lives in general. For others that saw him every day, I'm sure the wounds are still raw, but things cannot move on unless we TRY to move on, however difficult.

In the next few days we will put Ken's post somewhere; I haven't thought where yet, but we will make sure that while he is forever gone, he will not be forgotten and while he will no longer contribute, he will continue to be an integral and inextricable part of the Bellett scene in Australia and worldwide for as long as there is a Bellett enthusiast still above ground.

Cheers to all; stay safe.

Dave


http://www.beyondblue.org.au

Hi again,

As mentioned above, we've moved Ken's thread into 'General Bellett Chat'. We were going to make it a sticky thread or an announcement thread (these stay at the top) until the 1 year anniversary of Ken's passing, but the Forum system seems to have kept this as a seperate forum within this topic.

This is fine by me; it is a different means to the same end. Once Ken's one-year anniversary has passed, we will allow Bellett.net to absorb it into the general Bellett-ness of the Forum.

Any problems, issues, worries, complaints or concerns, PM me.

Cheers guys,

Dave

with the passing of another month in 2011, and turning another page on my awesome Bellett calendar, produced by Vic (user "lemansvk") sees a great pic of the Bloor's beautiful PR90, with Ken in the backgrounnd doing what he did best.....
enjoying his Bellett's and having a chat. the only thing missing is a glass of rum!

anyway, i bring this up as i stopped for a moment when i turned the calendar page and just remembered Ken as the great bloke he was, and i'm sure that those of us that have Vic's calendar will also do the same.

cheers, and here's to remembering the past as we head into the future.

"and here's to remembering the past as we head into the future."

Indeed.

I'll be thinking these same thoughts come November. That's when I turn over my Hillman calendar to see the picture that my friend Peter Tavener sent me last year. Funny thing is it's not even Peter's car - it's one of his friends' that Peter sent me because he (correctly) thought it was worthy of inclusion. Typical.

I first met Peter via the internet about 10 years ago - then I met him in person when my wife and I travelled to Adelaide in 2005 for a major operation. He came and visited us, took us on a Hillman club run and then the Bay to Birdwood rally. We kept in touch and a couple of years ago he visited us over here in Canberra - even brought us over some Douglasdale "Two Fruits" jam that we had taken a shine to when in Adelaide. He was a major organiser of the 2007 Hillman centenary celebratons over in Adelaide, even though he was not well at the time. Still he managed to play a major prank on Hillman afficionados in Australia. He produced a video of the Hillman participation in the 2007 Bay to Birdwood, and with the help of one of his friends inserted a segment on the "Hillman Gazelle Mark II" (a completely fictitious car) that fooled quite a few of us - me included.

After a long battle with cancer, Peter passed away last year, just before I had the Hillman Calendars printed. He was loved by his wife, kids and grandkids - and he also freely gave his time to others. Aside from playing a major role in the Hillman car club he was a volunteer in the Country Fire Service. He was strong-minded, opinionated, absolutely fair, loving and a true friend. I remember him telling me once that as much as he liked the cars, it was really the people that made up the clubs that mattered. I wish he were still with us.

Peter, his wife Marg and their cars and story can be seen here:

http://www.sa.hillman.org.au/PMTav.htm

regards, Vic