Vancouver, BC (Best E Casino) - British Columbia Lions president and chief executive office Bob Ackles died of a heart attack on Sunday. He was 69.

Ackles started out as the team's water boy at age 15 in 1953 before becoming director of football development in 1966. He took over as general manager in 1971. He returned to the team in 2002, along with the hiring of Wally Buono as coach and general manger.

"It was our league that virtually adopted him when he was just a boy, and it's our league that has looked to him as a man for counsel, inspiration and leadership by example," CFL commissioner Mark Cohon said in a statement.

Ackles also spent time in the NFL as an executive with the Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins as well as with the now defunct XFL before returning to the Lions as their president.

He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2002 and the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.