Dr. Fred William Bell, Jr.

Obituary For Dr. Fred William Bell, Jr.

Dr. Fred William Bell, Jr., 74, of East Point died Tuesday, October 2, 2012. He was the father of Dr. Andre' Bell and the brother-in-law of the Rev. Dr. Harry S. Wright, Sr.

Funeral rites for Dr. Fred William Bell, Jr. of East Point will be 11:00 a.m. Saturday October 6, 2012 at Central United Methodist Church, 501-7 Mitchell St., S.W., Atlanta. The Rev. Byron E. Thomas, senior pastor, officiant and eulogist.

The family will receive friends at 9:00 Saturday morning as the body lies in-state two hours prior to the service. Entombment Westview Abbey Garden.

Fred Williams Bell, Jr. was the second child and only son born to Fred Williams Bell, Sr. and Joseph Cook Bell in Soperton, Georgia June 12, 1938. He and his sister, Chequeta, attended Claver Catholic School in Macon, Georgia. The family was active in Macon’s First Congregational Church. As a Boy Scouts of America executive, Fred W. Bell, Sr. and his family relocated to Florence, South Carolina in the mid-1940’s where they became active in Cumberland United Methodist Church.

Fred attended Wilson High School in Florence and, at age 16, was admitted to Atlanta’s Morehouse College where he majored in biology. As Alpha Phi Alpha pledges at Morehouse, Fred W. Bell, Jr. and Maynard H. Jackson, Jr. were “line brothers.” Fred W. Bell, Jr. was a 1959 graduate of Morehouse College.

After graduating from Morehouse, Fred enrolled in the masters’ degree program at Howard University but later transferred to Golden Gate University where he earned his doctorate. Shortly thereafter, he was commissioned as officer in the Public Health Service as he served in the United States Coast Guard in Bethel, Alaska. Dr. Bell was commissioned as an officer of the Public Health Service while serving in the U.S. Coast Guard. For more than 30 years, he served as chief of medical administration at various Veterans Administration Medical Centers.

Thereafter, Billings, Montana; El Paso, Texas; Houston, Texas (where Andre’ was born in 1968); North Little Rock, Arkansas; Chicago, Illinois; Cincinnati, Ohio; Long Beach, California; Dallas Texas; Jackson, Mississippi, were called home before Fred retired in Atlanta. Fred W. Bell’s interests included reading, travelling gardening, and bowling. As well he enjoyed volunteering with Habitat for Humanity and numerous veterans’ advocacy activities.

From 1964 to 1991, Fred W. Bell, Jr. and the former Jean Jordan were married. He was preceded in death by his parents, Fred W. Bell Sr. and Josephine Cook Bell and his sister, Chequeta Bell Wright. Fred William Bell, Jr. died at his home October 2, 2012. Those who cherish his memory include his son and daughter-in-law, Dr. Andre E. Bell and Dr. Yolanda Denise Keller-Bell; grandsons, Xavier W. Bell and Justin W. Bell; former wife, Jean J. Bell; brother-in-law, Rev. Dr. Harry S. Wright, Sr.; nieces, Deborah C. Wright, Harryetta Wright Hill, and Schawannah J. Wright; nephew, Rev. Harry S. Wright, Jr.; several cousins, friends, and colleagues.