Obituaries / LJWorld.com

Obituaries

Fred William Bell, Jr., 91, formerly of Lawrence, passed away December 21, 2012 in Lincoln, NE. He was born to Fred W and Pearl Dunlap Bell, in Atlanta, KS on Kansas Day, January 29, 1921. He was a graduate of Wichita High School North, attended Friends University, Wichita, KS and was in his third college year at Phillips University, Enid, OK when he joined the Army Air Corps. Graduating as a Pilot in March, 1944 he married Phyllis Shull of Topeka, KS whom he met at Phillips University. As a B-17 Pilot based in Foggia, Italy he completed 54 missions and left active service in December 1946, remaining in the Air National Guard until he retired as Lt. Colonel, in 1981. Fred joined the Wichita Fire Department in 1949 and retired in 1971 as Chief Training Instructor with 22 years of service to take a position as a Fire Service Instructor with the University of Kansas Continuing Education Division. This teaching position required traveling to many Kansas towns training the local firefighters. Fred retired in 1986 after 15 years with the University of Kansas. Fred was a member of the Jayhawk Kiwanis Club and New Horizon Band in Lawrence, KS, Charter Member of the Pine Valley Christian Church in Wichita, KS and the 301st Bomb Group, 415th Air Force, WWII B-17 Squadron veterans group. Fred’s lifelong hobbies included travel, photography, golf, fishing, hunting, playing his trombone, researching and maintaining WWII B-17 Squadron records. He was preceded in death by his mother, Pearl and brother, Rev. W. Robert Bell. He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Phyllis; daughter Pamela, and husband Rolando Santos, granddaughters Rosalind and Alexandra, Atlanta, GA; son Kenneth, and wife Kim Kilgore Bell, grandchildren, Brady, Delaney and Cassidy, Lincoln, NE, grandson Isaac and wife Forest Bell, Lawrence, KS; Richard and Sharon Sammon Bell, granddaughters Stephanie and Katherine, Sunnyvale, CA. Services will be held at Thursday, December 27, 2012 starting at 1:00 PM at Pine Valley Christian Church, 5620 East 21st Street North Wichita, KS, with interment to follow at White Chapel. Visitation is prior to services at 12:00 PM.
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