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Eric Bell, then CEO of Blue Duck Scooters, at the company's warehouse in San Antonio in 2019. Bell, who founded the scooter-rental company with his father, died recently at age 39.

Eric Bell, then CEO of Blue Duck Scooters, with company employees in 2019. Blue Duck, founded by Bell and his father, was the only Texas firm in the scooter-rental industry, a sector dominated by California firms. The company folded in 2021. Bell died recently at age 39.

Eric Bell, then CEO of Blue Duck Scooters, brainstorms with employees in 2019. Blue Duck, founded by Bell and his father, was the only Texas firm in the scooter-rental industry, a sector dominated by California firms. The company folded in 2021. Bell died recently at age 39.

Eric Matthew Bell, co-founder of the now-defunct Blue Duck Scooters, a San Antonio company that rode the rental scooter craze to short-lived success, has died after a brief illness. He was 39.

"Eric was an amazing, loving son and bright light whose spark always lit up the room," his father, Paul A. Bell, said by email. "He was unique, spirited, driven, engaged, and a wonderful soul loved by family and many friends and colleagues."

The elder Bell confirmed that his son died April 25. No cause of death was given.

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Eric Bell and his father started Blue Duck Scooters in 2018, a time when the e-scooter industry was booming. Paul Bell once said they got the idea while on vacation in California where they saw people riding electric scooters around Santa Monica and Los Angeles.

Riders unlocked the vehicles with a credit card and were charged fees of about $1 upfront, plus 15 cents a mile. The phenomenon spread across the country and soon rental scooters were the rage in downtown San Antonio.

Blue Duck briefly rode the wave. At its peak, the startup had 100 full-time and contract employees and was operating in 10 cities, mostly in the South. It was the only Texas-based company in an industry dominated by California giants such as Lyft, Bird and Lime.

It struggled to become profitable, however. Eric Bell was replaced as CEO in 2019 but remained on the "senior executive team," the company said at the time.

Blue Duck closed in 2021.

Bell was born in San Antonio on Dec. 8, 1983, his family said.

He enjoyed traveling "often and widely, from Alaska to the Carolinas, Michigan to Mexico and to Scotland, California, Hawaii, the Mediterranean and Caribbean," his father and his wife, Julie Polansky Bell, wrote in an obituary.

Family members described him as "a millennial soul," who embraced being a part of the digital age and its technological transformations.

He co-founded and helped fund ThinkSA, a public policy group, and was an investor and advisor to startups, his family said. He also was a founding board member of TechBloc, an advocacy group for San Antonio's tech sector.

Friends recalled Bell as a natural entrepreneur, and also as a generous soul who would surprise people with gifts.

A connoisseur of ball caps, Bell once gave friend and business associate Michael Keane a Local Coffee cap, simply because Keane had complimented Bell on the one he wore.

"He was sensitive enough to realize I liked the cap, so he bought me one just like it," Keane said.

Keane worked with Bell as an executive at Blue Duck and briefly took the reins as CEO before the company folded. Keane said Bell was never discouraged by the ups and downs of the business world.

"Eric was constantly looking for different business ideas," he said. "Some worked, and some didn't work, but he had that in his DNA."

Keane said Bell told him weeks before he died about "a great business idea" he wanted to pursue. They never had the chance to discuss it.

Alan Schoenbaum, a tech industry lawyer, served on the board of Group 42, an energy-focused holding company founded by Paul Bell. Eric Bell was an executive and board member.

Schoenbaum said his sons grew up with the younger Bell, who Schoenbaum said was like a son to him.

"It was fun watching him grow up. He was a sweet, sweet boy. He's left an impact, and we all will remember him," Schoenbaum said.

Bell was preceded in death by his mother, Cathryn Bell Fleming; grandfathers Dr. James D. Bell and Curtis L. Bruner; grandmothers Joan L. Bell and Mildred "Millie" Bruner; and an uncle, John D. Bell.

In addition to his wife and father, he is survived by sister, Mallory Mangold; his brother, Jeffrey Mangold; an uncle, Curtis L. Bruner, Jr.; two aunts, Susan Bell and Deborah Bushold; and numerous cousins and other relatives.

The family is planning a "Celebration of Life" at a later date.

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