Douglas George Bell

Douglas George Bell, age 69, of San Diego, CA. passed away on March 24, 2024, from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. He was an extremely intelligent, eloquent and funny man whose passing is deeply felt by all who knew him.

Douglas was born on October 22, 1954, to George and Chelsie Bell in Farmingdale, Long Island, NY. While he and his family moved to California in his early teens, Douglas was never far from NY in his heart and never missed an opportunity to visit his hometown.

After graduating from Clairemont High School, Douglas went on to study English at San Diego State University where he earned a bachelor’s degree. He formally entered the workforce shortly after college as a graphic artist at the family business, Bell Concepts. It was early in his career that he took a meeting with a client and met his future wife, Alma. They were married on October 18, 1980. Douglas and Alma raised three children: Jonathan, Dougie and Anthony. He was a warm and active father and always made sure his boys knew they were loved.

Douglas had a fervent passion for music and would fill the house with the sounds of Brahms, Prokofiev, Debussy, etc., whenever he had the chance. He revered Sunday mornings when he could blast the classics for hours, uninterrupted. He was also a rabid movie fan. Sink the Bismark, How Green was My Valley and The Blue Max were all in heavy rotation in the living room. He delighted in extolling the virtues of masterclass film making. Douglas loved sports, specifically hockey. The New York Rangers were a source of pride and angst season after season. In 1994, he joined millions of New Yorkers in spirit when he elated in them hoisting the Stanley Cup after a 50-year drought. You’ve never seen so many grown men cry. He had a fantastic ability to earnestly ingratiate himself with anybody and everybody. He was famous for his quips and gave just as good as he got. When he wasn’t holding court and being the center of attention, he made sure that whoever was up felt like the most important person in the room. Generous almost to a fault. While he never made a career of his college major, he was a consummate wordsmith and could dazzle with his compositions. He was an avid op-ed writer and was frequently published in the San Diego Union Tribune. Douglas was rarely without a pen in his hand and had reams of notebooks with meticulously crafted opinion pieces about societal ills and the issues of the day.

Douglas was predeceased by his parents, George and Chelsie Bell, and is survived by his twin brother (Tom), sister (Jean), wife (Alma), three sons (Jonathan, Dougie and Anthony) and grandchildren (Donovan and Madeline).

We love and miss him and are all better for having him in our lives.