FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: (Johnstown, Penn.) December 16, 2016…It is with great sadness and heavy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: (Johnstown, Penn.) December 16, 2016…It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we pass along the news that outdoor industry icon, Wade Bourne, has passed away from an apparent heart attack.

Mr. Bourne truly touched the lives of many and believed strongly in the act of mentoring the next generation of those who loved the great outdoors and communicated that love through content creation.

“I am sad to hear that Wade Bourne has passed away,” said Kevin Orthman, executive director of POMA. “He was introduced to me as ‘The Gentleman of the Outdoor Industry’. Having met him multiple times and being lucky enough to call him a friend, he certainly lived up to the title.” “Our most heartfelt condolences go to the lovely Bourne family. It was an honor to give him the POMA/ASA Homer Circle Award this year. Wade will live on in the many people he mentored and people whose lives he touched, both in person and over the airwaves. I know my life was made better from having known and been inspired by the gentleman that was Wade Bourne.”

The tribute below, written by POMA board member Josh Wolfe, who called Wade mentor and friend, encompasses the way many felt about Wade. Thank you Josh, for sharing these heartfelt words.

The outdoor industry is a tough place to make a living if you’re not part of what some may call the “inner circle.” For me, the journey into that circle started with a short email, one that I was sure wouldn’t get a response, to Wade Bourne in 2008. I couldn’t believe it when the next day he not only answered my every question but also offered his phone number if I’d like to talk more. I did.

Since that day almost a decade ago I have been so fortunate to share the dove field, duck blind and even a boardroom with Mr. Bourne. Our families became close and his son Hampton, who is about my age, and I became old friends just mere minutes after the initial handshake.

His passing comes with a great wave of sadness, a lasting void that can only be covered, never filled, through a continuation of what he enjoyed most: living life to its fullest in the great outdoors. That’s the way Mr. Bourne would want it.

I could sit here and write about Mr. Bourne forever – how he gave a nobody his start in the outdoor industry, the way he and his wife, Mrs. Becky, took me in, fed me and gave me shelter when I was but a name on an email; and ultimately, what a friend he truly was and how much we are all going to miss him – but I’m going to save room for others whose life he firmly touched. The Good Lord gained yet another soul whose work on earth was complete, and I have no doubt that Mr. Bourne is entertaining him with one of a thousand stories that have on many occasions left me laughing, near tears or pondering the deeper meaning to the beauty of Mother Nature. Rest easy, Mr. Bourne. Yours are a hell of a pair of waders to fill.