James Bell, 79, city native, dies
James R. Bell, 79, of Bartonville died Saturday afternoon, Oct. 29, at the Methodist Medical Center in Peoria.
He was born June 10, 1909 in Jacksonville, a son of Zed and Sarah Oxley Bell. He married Beulah Hawk on Nov. 26, 1936 in Jacksonville. She survives.
Also surviving is one brother, Edgar Bell of Jacksonville.
He was preceded in death by one brother and three sisters.
Mr. Bell worked in the foundry at Caterpillar Tractor in Peoria for 36 years, retiring in 1972. He was a Navy veteran of World War II and a member of Joseph Robbins Lodge 930 AF & AM, Peoria Consistory of the Scottish Rite, the Mohammed Temple Shrine, the Morton Chapter Order of the Eastern Star, South Peoria VFW 8662, Peoria Elks 20, and Morton United Methodist Church.
Services will be held 2 p.m. Tuesday at Williamson Funeral Home with burial at Ebenezer Cemetery. Visitation will be 6-8 p.m. Monday at Davison-Fulton Bartonville Chapel and one hour prior to services Tuesday at Williamson Funeral Home. Memorials may be made to Shriners Crippled Children's Hospital or Morton United Methodist Church. Williamson Funeral Home is in charge of local arrangements.