CADILLAC — Cadillac native Doug Bell told the Cadillac News that he’s heard it been said that the measure of a person’s life is how much of a positive impact they’ve had on others.
Choked with emotion, Bell said he can’t think of anyone who led a more impactful life than Dave Kendall, who passed away Tuesday.
“What he did with his life affected a whole lot of people in a very positive way,” Bell said. “He inspired a lot of people.”
Bell is one of the people that Kendall inspired.
When he was a teenager, Bell got a job at the Cadillac Country Club, where Kendall worked as the head golf professional for 17 years, from 1980 to 1996.
Kendall became Bell’s mentor — a role he played in the lives of countless other young people he encountered professionally and personally.
“He exposed a lot of kids to golf,” Bell said. “Many of us are still in the business today.”
Kendall encouraged Bell to pursue a career as a golf professional, which he did, attending Ferris State University’s professional golf management program. Bell graduating from this program was a point of pride for Kendall, who graduated from the same program in its second year of existence, in the late 1970s.
Today, Bell is the manager of American Dunes Golf Club in Grand Haven.
Bell said Kendall taught him so many valuable lessons about golf and life.
“He did things the right way,” Bell said. “There’s no short cuts … if you make a mistake, you admit your fault, learn from it and correct it.”
Kendall was diagnosed with Stage 4 esophageal cancer in April 2024 and doctors initially gave him several months to live — a prognosis he outlived by a year.
His condition was especially dire after he underwent brain surgery to remove a tumor, but his optimism and determination to live as long as he could never wavered.
Kendall told Bell that his goal was to live long enough that his granddaughter would remember him.
Bell said Kendall’s fierce competitive spirit stemmed partly from a “little chip on his shoulder.”
“He never thought he was a good enough golfer and had to prove that he could beat you, and often did,” Bell said. “He treated (the cancer diagnosis) no differently.”
While intensely competitive, Kendall always placed the success of his students above his own.
Longtime friend and fellow Michigan Golf Hall of Fame inductee Lynn Janson remembers a tournament that he, Kendall and one of Kendall’s students played a number of years ago.
This was during the peak of Kendall’s career — a time he when was winning tournaments left and right — but instead of focusing on his own game, Janson said Kendall devoted almost all of his attention to helping his student become a better player.
“I’m sure it cost him all kinds of strokes,” Janson said. “He took a tremendous interest in those he was teaching … He cared so much about other people’s success.”
Kendall and Janson met in the early 1980s at a tournament in Florida.
“We became friends right away,” Janson said. “He was an authentic person … genuinely interested in other people.”
Kendall had strong ethical principles and Janson witnessed this early on in their relationship, when he offered him a job a day after Kendall had accepted a position elsewhere.
Even though he admitted that the opportunity with Janson would have been better for his career, Kendall had to turn down the offer — because he had already made a commitment to someone else.
“He told me that he wished I could talk him out of it but I couldn’t,” Janson said. “He said he can’t undo that commitment. He had tremendous character. He was an honorable man.”
Over the years, Kendall and Janson hosted a number of golf schools together and developed a close relationship.
“You couldn’t dislike him,” Janson said. “He had 1,000 friends and he truly cared about all of them.”
Janson said Dave was realistic and pragmatic about his diagnosis — he knew it was only a matter of time before the disease took him — but he never gave up and did everything he could to make his remaining days as worthwhile as possible.
Kendall’s wife, Karen, said his oncologist told her that Dave’s case is now being used as an example to others who are going through the same kind of treatment.
“He was such a fighter,” Karen said. “He defied all the odds and lived way longer than we ever anticipated.”
Kendall passed away Tuesday morning around 3 a.m.
“He just stopped breathing,” Karen said. “It wasn’t dramatic. He wasn’t gasping for breath … I’m thankful he’s at peace and not in pain anymore.”
Kendall had been in excruciating pain since mid-July but on Sunday, he stopped taking all his medications. He said he no longer felt any pain, which doctors thought was an indication that his organs were shutting down.
Throughout his sickness, Karen said he was never anything but “100% positive, grateful and thankful” for the time he had left.
When people would visit with him and begin lamenting about the unfairness of the universe, Karen said Dave would gently cut them off and ask how he could expect to live forever without pain or disease.
He approached the diagnosis the same way he approached obstacles on the golf course, Karen said — not with anger and frustration but with careful deliberation and tenacity.
After 45 years of marriage, Karen said she can’t imagine life without Dave. She hasn’t even had time to think about it.
What she is certain about, however, is that the time she was able to spend with her husband after his diagnosis was a precious gift that many people don’t get with loved ones who pass away suddenly.
“I’m certainly unstable right now,” Karen said, “but I’m blessed that I had so much extra time with Dave. Just so grateful.”
Story Highlights • Former head golf professional at the Cadillac Country Club — Dave Kendall — passed away Tuesday after battling Stage 4 esophageal cancer for a year and a half. • Kendall was a renown golfer and teacher whose accomplishments include winning the Michigan Senior Open twice and the Michigan Senior PGA Championship. He also was president of the Michigan PGA, elected Professional of the Year, twice named Teacher of the Year, inducted into the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame, and founded the Kendall Academy in Ypsilanti.