Sandy and friends

My older friends and I were saddened to see the name Graham Bell in your December 20 funeral notices.

Many locals may not know that Graham set up Bell-Air, which I now understand was a “third level” airline.

I was a frequent flyer with Bell-Air on flights to Auckland and back, and his service was the best I have ever experienced.

He went out of his way to support us in the early days of the Hepatitis Foundation lab, and frequently made special arrangements to courier blood specimens to and from Auckland, usually at no cost.  

He would even hold up a flight for me or one of our visitors for a short while when he knew that we were under pressure. Those were the days.

Graham was a skilled fish-spotting pilot and co-operated with local tuna fishermen by directing them to shoals.

Graham’s wife Pat was a workmate of mine as a nurse at Whakatāne Hospital. A lovely couple.

We offer Pat our condolences.