Transcribed by Stephen Carroll Pearsall
Raymond Bell, Sr., Prominent Pender Figure, Succumbs at 79
Raymond Bell, Sr., native of Pender County, and a prominent figure throughout this area, succumbed at his home Thursday evening at six o’clock, following several months of illness.
Funeral service were conducted from the Burgaw Methodist Church Saturday at 3:00 p.m., with the Rev. C. F. Grill officiating. Burial followed in the Burgaw Cemetery.
Born in the Currie section of Pender County, April 29, 1880, Mr. Bell has resided in Burgaw for more than fifty years. For the past twenty-five years he was a retired employee of Standard Oil Company.
During that time he served as Deputy Sheriff and was appointed Public Administrator.
Until declining health, Mr. Bell was an active member of the Burgaw Methodist Church having served on the Board of Deacons. He also served as Recording Secretary for the Church and held other offices in the Sunday School.
He was also a member of the Woodmen of the World, Camp NO. 313.
Survivors include his widow, the former Janie McLendon; one daughter, Mrs. Lila Mae Bell Teachey, Rose Hill; two sons, Raymond Bell, Jr., Burgaw, and Angus Bell, Wilmington; four brothers, C. S. Bell of Garner, L. M., W. C., and C. H. Bell, all of Currie, nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Source: Pender Chronicle, Burgaw, NC, January 21, 1959