Dave Stell

SYRACUSE —“Superheroes” is the theme for the 2018 Wawasee Flotilla and this year’s commodore is like the superheroes who stay behind the scenes until called up. Dave Stell, Syracuse, has been named this year’s commodore and will lead the 57th Wawasee Flotilla Saturday, July 7.

Stell is someone who has been a supporter of many activities in the community, working quietly in the background desiring no fanfare or recognition.

“I’m excited about it,” Stell quietly said. It’s an honor he is well aware of as he served on the Wawasee Flotilla Committee from the mid 1980s through the early 2000s. In fact it was Stell who, during those years, had the honor of motoring all the commodores at the head of the flotilla.

Because of his commitment and passion to cure cancer, Stell is most noted for his involvement with raising cancer funds. “Primarily because I lost my mother and father, brother and sister to lung cancer.” It was from the late 1980s through 1998 Stell, with Tom Tuttle Sr., and others, spearheading raising funds for the American Cancer Society.

After 1998 it was Stell, along with a few others, who then started the Cancer Care Fund of Kosciusko County. Since 1980 he has helped the organizations raise $7 million in the county, with $5 million through CCF that remains in the county to help those battling cancer.

Stell grew up in the Rogers Park area of Chicago, with four brothers and a sister. He left the area in 1981 and moved to Syracuse Lake in 1983. For 23 years he and his wife, Diane, lived on Syracuse Lake before moving in 2006 to their home, known as “The Barn” just southwest of town. They still enjoy the lake, mooring a boat on Lake Wawasee and can often be seen motoring around, including a traditional Sunday evening boat ride.

The Stells joined the Flotilla committee as a means to get to know people in the community, as they operated a business out of Goshen. They still own and operate Daren Industries, started by his grandfather in 1913. Stell is the third generation to oversee the business and has done so for the past 50 years, but has also been involved with the business since he was 18.

Stell’s support in the community has been varied. However, it has been through anonymous support in various ways, often very quietly and without fanfare.

The Stells have three children and five grandchildren: Nick Stell, and wife Kelly and two children, Maddy and Mason, live in Lake Bluff, Ill.; Aimee and husband, Erik Hallgrimson, and son, Gunnar; and Julee and husband, Jim Rees and two children, Brady and Bennett, reside in Los Gatos, Calif. “All the kids are coming home,” Stell said and will be participating in the event with their parents.