Alma Bell

After 94 years of loving and being deeply loved, Alma Rogers Bell passed away Thursday, July 9, 2020. 

She died at 5:12 p.m., an important number in her close-knit family. Her beloved son, Dover, and his wife, Laurie, have long led Cub Scout Pack 512, Boy Scout Troop 512, and 512 was the tail number of the last plane Dover flew before retiring from the Air Force.

Alma was raised on a farm in Burlington, WV, and left home at 14 to help support her family. She later joined the Army Reserves and became a registered nurse. She was immediately sent to Korea and assigned to a MASH unit. One night, she was eating in the mess hall after a marathon surgery session, when she saw a doctor from another unit drinking raw eggs with Worcestershire sauce… she just cringed. Sometime later, she was medically discharged after being seriously injured in a jeep rollover. After her recovery,she returned to nursing at the Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington DC. Once again, she met and later married that crazy doctor from Korea. Alma continued nursing, working in her husband’s private practice, Public Health in Denver, CO, as a volunteer nurse in Grosse Pointe, MI, and of course as the master splinter puller for her son and his friends. Unfortunately, Dr. James Archibald Bell preceded Alma in death in 1981 when their son was just 15.

Alma was especially known for her gourmet cooking skills, which included her son’s favorite Black Forest Torte. Her skills were put to the test when Dover volunteered her to cook a Japanese sukiyaki meal for his elementary school class. He failed to mention it was for over 400 people, the entire 3rd and 4th grade “class". She rose to the occasion and the day was a success. Her hobbies also included painting and gardening. One of her plants has survived over 45 years and is still going.  

Alma was a tough country girl, who never lost the ability to laugh and love. In January 1999, she suffered a massive stroke that left her right side paralyzed and severely limited her communication, but did not dull her mind or sense of humor. The “professional” prognosis was she would never get off life support. Instead, she walked out of the hospital on her own without a walker. After a year, she decided she needed assisted living and became a 20-year-resident of Brookdale Senior Living, where she made friends with residents and staff, despite a vocabulary that included only a few words and phrases. On her 90th birthday, she amazed everyone when she came out of her room using her walker that had gathered dust for several years. No wheelchair… she was going to walk with her grandkids!

Her greatest love was her family, especially her grand and great grandchildren. When they were young, she spoiled them, hosting tea parties with sugar water and slipping them coffee in their sippy cups before sending them back home. Of course, she had the ever-full cookie jar. Although she had health challenges, she pushed herself to keep going, even dancing at her granddaughters wedding in 2018. She especially loved holding her great-granddaughter Lorraine and delighted in their visits. Only a couple weeks ago she got herself to say “I love you” to a video of Lorraine, words thought lost to the stroke.

Alma was preceded in death by her parents, Harry Fisher Shank and Lucy Kate Purgitt, and her siblings, George William Shank, Dorothy Belle Shank, and Harry Fisher Shank Junior. She is survived by her brother Paul Carroll Shank and sister Susan Jane Stark. 

She is also survived by her son, Dover Michael Bell and his wife Laurie Ann Bell, of Shalimar, who took care of her until the end and enjoyed every minute. Her grandchildren, James Michael Bell and his wife, Elizabeth Renee Watters, Stephanie Ann Walker and her husband, Tahj Anthony Walker, Christine Elizabeth Bell, and Matthew Oliver Bell and his partner Rose Dismukes. They will cherish their fond memories of “Grandma Bell,” who spoiled them all. 

In the last year of her life, Alma became a great grandmother. She met and fell in love with Lorraine Annabell Walker, born August 2019. In her final days, she was very excited about the arrival of Justin Emerson Bell, due this November, and the adoption of Kevin Watters by James and Elizabeth, to which she gave her blessing, “good, good, good”!

Alma had a very special love for her stepdaughter, Catherine (Betty) Tzoumas and her family: son Dimitrios Tzoumas, his wife, Shelly, children Lizzy, Costas, and Alekka; and son Anthony Tzoumas, his wife, Jennifer, and children Alyssa and Natalie. 

She will always be remembered as a true fighter who never gave up, one full of laughs, love, and kindness. In the end, it wasn’t COVID but the isolation that would be her kryptonite. 

The family will receive friends at Davis-Watkins Funeral Home, 113 NE Racetrack Road, Fort Walton Beach, FL 32547 on Monday, July 13, 2020 from 5 to 7 pm.  There will be private funeral services and she will be laid to rest next to her husband at Arlington National Cemetery.  Due to COVID-19, there will be limited capacity and all guest are asked to wear a mask and practice social distancing. 

In lieu of flowers please donate to St. Jude Childrens Hospital on behalf of Alma at http://giftfunds.stjude.org/Alma_R_Bell_RN