Background:
Brad Cella, beloved friend, family man and colleague passed away on Saturday, September 15, 2007. Brad suffered a massive stroke while skydiving – and the stroke could have occurred anywhere – but it just happened to occur after Brad deployed his parachute. Although the pain of the loss remains, the family is comforted by the fact the Brad “floated away” while doing something he loved. Brad was passionate about skydiving and was a master at it. He was an Accelerated Free Fall Instructor/Examiner and his safety record was impeccable. This was his 2,402nd jump.
Rick Stewart, Safety and Training Advisor for Skydive Idaho at the Star Skydiving Center reported the following update to the sky diving community: William "Brad" Cella was an experienced skydiver with 2402 jumps, 29 years of experience, SL-IE, AFF-IE, Coach, S&TA, CCD, Senior Parachute Rigger, Gold-Wings, Diamond-Wings and had over 24 hours of freefall time. The initial report shows that Brad, as he is known at his home DZ, suffered a massive stroke while under canopy. I would like you all to know, although this occurred while Brad was skydiving, that this was NOT a skydiving accident.
Brad was 55 years old and had close to 30 years of distinguished service with the National Park Service. He worked primarily in fire and natural resource management fields, serving the last 25 years in the NPS Alaska Regional Office, most recently as the Regional Fire Management Officer. Brad recently accepted the job of Budget and Planning Chief for the NPS Branch of Wildland Fire, at the National Interagency Fire Center located in Boise, Idaho.
Condolences:
Brad's NPS family offers their condolences to his fiancée, Laurie, his sister, Terri, and to the entire Cella family.
Condolences can be sent to Laurie Williams and Terri Cella at P.O. Box 16474, Boise, ID, 83715-6474.
Read or Add a Story, Tribute, or Condolence:
We have set up a page for you to share a story, condolence, or memory and those from others written for Brad and his family.
Thanks to you, this page has received a number of beautiful tributes which "cella-brate" Brad's life. The tribute page will continue to be available for you to contribute your thoughts and stories until October 15, 2007. The information will then be downloaded onto a CD and sent to the family as a keepsake.
The page itself will continue to be available for public viewing (but not submissions), at a new location on the NPS Fire & Aviation website to be announced at that time.
Thank you again for all your thoughts and stories that have been posted in honor of Brad.
Donations / Contributions:
A memorial account has been established to help the family during this difficult time. Donations are being accepted at any Wells Fargo Bank https://www.wellsfargo.com/. The Brad Cella Memorial is account number: 5865826654.
The Memorial Cella-brations were funded entirely by the family, private donations, the Alaska Natural History Association, and the Wildland Firefighters Foundation. Thank you to all who contributed. |
