Event Date : Thursday, October 14, 1965
Event Type : Death
Municipality :
Community : Barrie
Street :
Lot :
Concession : 0
Description : The death of Mr. Roy Thomas Bell, of Barrie, occurred very suddenly at his home on Thursday, October 14, 1965. Mr. Bell had made his regular trip to do the household shopping that day and after coming home he told Mrs. Bell that he was going to do a little work in the garden, around the house. Later, when she went to look for him, she found that he had died, while doing his little bit of gardening. He had suffered a heart attack.Mr. Bell was born at Gilford 81 years ago and was the second eldest of a family of twelve sons and daughters of the late Andrew Bell and his wife, Mrs. Alice Bateman Bell. He spent his childhood and early manhood in the Gilford district, going to Flos Township, near Elmvale, in 1909. It was while living there that he met and married Mary Anderson, their marriage taking place at Rugby in 1912. In 1919 Mr. and Mrs. Bell came back to the Gilford area, where they farmed until 1947, when they retired to Barrie, where they had since resided.A life-long Presbyterian, Mr. Bell was an elder in St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Barrie. He was also a member of Manitoba Masonic Lodge, Cookstown.Mr. Bell belonged to one of the long-time West Gwillimbury families and the names of his brothers and sisters, those who survive and those who predeceased him, all have close association with the township, as do the names of his own family.He is survived by his wife; by his only daughter, Marion (Mrs. William Watt) of Bond Head; by his son, Kenneth of Barrie, and by their children, Jean, Bob and Mary Jane Watt and Gary, Don and Jimmy Bell. Surviving also are two brothers, Ernest and Harold Bell of Gilford, and four sisters, Viola (Mrs. H. Carnahan) of Elmvale, Clara (Mrs. W. Baynes) of Barrie, Marjorie (Mrs. F. Scott) of Barrie, and Dorothy (Mrs. R. Hood) of Toronto. He was predeceased by two sisters, Mabel (Mrs. Herbert Hughes) and Edna, who died in infancy, and by three brothers, Clarence, Ross and Frank.The funeral was held on Saturday, October 16, from the Steckley Funeral Home in Barrie, with services being conducted by Rev. Ross Adams. Interment was in St. John's Cemetery, Coulson's Hill.The pallbearers were six nephews of the deceased: namely, Clarence Baynes, Ray Gillespie, John Bell, Tom Bell, Ross Hughes and Earl Gilmore.
