Frances I. Bell

YORK – Frances (Imboden) Bell, 92, passed away Tuesday, May 14, 2019, at Rest Haven – York. She was the wife of the late Harry C. Bell Jr. Born October 15, 1926, in Palmyra, Lebanon Co., she was the daughter of the late Hugh O. and Mary E. (Stauffer) Imboden. Mrs. Bell graduated from The Lankenau Hospital Training School for Nurses in 1948 and served as a US Army nurse during the Korean War. After meeting her husband and having two children, Mrs. Bell was an RN for Montgomery General Hospital in Olney, MD, until her retirement. Never enjoying being idle, Mrs. Bell’s retirement was short-lived. She helped her husband run Liberty Bell Antiques, an auction service in Olney, MD. She also owned and managed a consignment store in Olney. However, Mrs. Bell never left her nursing skills behind. More than once, when friends and family were sick, she served at their bedside to ease the burden on their family. It was a job she cared deeply about. When she retired a second time, she and Harry purchased an RV to travel across the country. They visited 37 states, including a drive to Alaska. As exciting as all the places they visited out west, they most enjoyed visiting their five grandchildren in North Carolina and having family reunions at Hershey Campground in Hershey, Pa. Even into her 70s, Mrs. Bell was known to stick a pillow in her bicycle basket, sit a grandchild on top of it and give them a spin around the campground. When she wasn’t hosting the family at the campground on those trips, you could find her riding roller coasters at Hershey Park. She had ridden The Comet as a child with her grandmother, and she was proud to ride the same rides with her own grandchildren. Later in life, as Mrs. Bell’s slowed down physically, she stayed active playing bridge weekly with a group of ladies she had known since high school. When she moved into a retirement home, she quickly gained a social circle and some joked that the Sunday church service doubled in size when she convinced her new friends to come with her. Mrs. Bell is survived by two sons, Douglas S. Bell Sr. and wife Nancy of Morehead City, NC, and Dr. Gordon M. Bell and wife Holly of York; five grandchildren Mary Adelaide Bell Riddick and husband Mike of Raleigh, NC, Taylor Bell Duck and husband Robert of Greenville, NC, Douglas S. Bell Jr. of Raleigh, William Harry Bell and wife Larkins of Greenvile, NC, and McDonald Baird Bell of Morehead City, NC; dear family friend, Denise Briggs, of Raleigh, NC; three great grandchildren, Julie Bell Riddick, Frances Jane Riddick and Steven Michael Riddick III, all of Raleigh. A nephew, Jeffrey Robert Imboden of Palmyra, a great nephew, Nicholas Aaron Imboden of Philadelphia, and a great niece, Ellen Elizabeth Imboden, of Harrisburg also survive her. Her brother, H. Robert Imboden, preceded her in death. Private burial will take place on Monday, June 24, 2019 at 9:30 AM at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery with full military honors presented by the US Army. Heffner Funeral Chapel & Crematory, Inc., 1551 Kenneth Road, York is in charge of arrangements.