Sandie Bellows passed away last night
Bellows was serving her first term as councillor after spending four years representing the Grantham ward on St. Catharines council.
The councillor was also well known in the community as a courageous victims' rights advocate after surviving a harrowing ordeal.
In 1990, Bellows was getting into her vehicle at the Family Savings Credit Union on Niagara Street when she was kidnapped by a fugitive who was wanted by police for two murders, one in London and the other in Toronto.
Over the next few hours she was raped, beaten and stabbed before she was rescued by a retired OPP officer.
In 2019, Bellows was named Chair of the Niagara Parks Commission.
In a statement from NPC Vice Chair April Jeffs and CEO David Adames, the pair detail Bellows' many accomplishments in her role as Chair.
"Sandie also guided the Commission through the unprecedented impacts of COVID while staying focused on delivering projects that were important to Niagara Parks, to the Province and to the tourism industry. These accomplishments included the redevelopment of Table Rock Centre, engaging with community stakeholders and creating a new attraction through the adaptive re-use of The Niagara Parks Power Station, which was Sandie’s biggest point of pride. As Sandie said at the official ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Power Station on July 28, 2021, the vision for the project was two-fold: “To restore this power plant to its former glory and bring it back to life, and to open it up for guests to explore and enjoy for generations to come”. This major redevelopment will be Sandie’s legacy. In the near future, the Minister and the Commission will hold a ceremony to dedicate a special place at Niagara Parks in Sandie’s memory and to celebrate her contributions to Niagara Parks and to Ontario."
Bellows leaves behind two sons Spencer and Colton.
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