For players and fans alike, it wasn't the usual mood at the B.C. Lions practice today. It was sinking in: President and CEO Bob Ackles is gone.

The man who was lovingly called "the water boy" after his first stint with the Lions when he was only 15 years old passed away Sunday morning.

"Bobby was special to everybody," said football hall-of-famer Victor Spencer. "He always had time for everybody, he'd come up and thank you for coming to the game."

Ackles was a part of the B.C. Lions for more than 50 years. Spencer gave Ackles the nickname "water boy" when the Lions were still kittens in 1953.

"I'll say he was a kid," Spencer said. "But it was his keenness about the game. I mean, he was dedicated at that age."

Ackles led the team to Grey Cup Victory in 1985. He moved stateside to work with the NFL after that.

But when the Lions were facing financial ruin in 2002, Ackles returned.

"The Lions wouldn't be here if he hadn't come back," Senator Larry Campbell told CTV News.

There was also a private side to Ackles, a man with many friends, close friends, who he treated like family.

"I'm going to remember him as a magnet for friends," said Phil Reimer. "He was the first person I met when I moved to Vancouver."

Inspiring to Reimer was his love for his wife, Kay, said Reimer, who is helping with funeral arrangements.

"Bob and Kay were together all the time," said Reimer. "They were one of the great love affairs of this generation, always holding hands. And, you know, Kay knows so much about football she could probably run the club now."

Vancouver businessman Jimmy Pattison said that Ackles was a real community builder.

"He was a real contributor, a special guy in our part of the world," said Pattison.

When he wasn't with people, Bob Ackles was at his easel, painting. He had enrolled in fine arts school in Las Vegas before the Lions lured him back.

And he loved music, especially jazz.

"He was a huge fan of jazz. He had a large collection of CDs," said another friend, Dal Richards.

Ackles had the unique experience of leading teams in all three of the CFL, the NFL, and the XFL.

But his love was with the Canadian game -- he recognized it as being faster and more entertaining. He was part of the lobbying effort to keep the NFL out of Canada.

"I think his legacy just might come out of that bill I have in the Senate," said Campbell. "It's now the Bobby Ackles bill."

B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell said that B.C. had lost a great man.

"He was a man who understood the power of sport to bring us together," said Campbell. "Who understood the spirit of the province and who actually not only made our province stronger, but our country stronger."

Friends and fans feel something should be done to honour Ackles. Many have suggested renaming B.C. Place to Ackles Stadium.

Ackles would have scoffed at that. He said he was already the luckiest man in the world, because he spent his life doing what he loved.

The "water boy" will be missed.

With reports from CTV British Columbia's Carrie Stefanson and Peter Grainger