Dorothy D. Bell

Our beloved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, Dorothy Bell, passed away peacefully on September 19, 2021 at St. David’s Hospital in Austin, Texas. Dorothy, at 99 years old, was young at heart and lived a full and adventurous life and left many family and friends who count themselves blessed to have been a part of it. She spent the last year of her life as she lived it: with courage, immense love, and a lot of laughter.

Dorothy Bell was born in Stockton, CA to Lukin Pond and Ethel Kwok, who immigrated from Canton, China. An attention-getter from the start, her baby photo was featured in an article by the Columbia, Missouri newspaper, where her parents moved shortly after her birth. The article described her as “this perfect baby, new citizen, has fondness for rice.” She grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and her father, Lukin, owned a dry goods shop and was involved in the Chinese Gospel Mission. Dorothy carried her Christian faith with her all her life and it played an important role in how she lived in the world. Valuing learning all her life, Dorothy joined the US Nurse Cadet Corps in 1944 and attended Wheaton College, graduating with a BA in Zoology and Music. Dorothy was an accomplished musician and showed aptitude for piano at a very young age; she would be very pleased to tell you she was a “prodigy.” She recorded two albums, played piano with one hand and organ with the other, and loved musical theatre all her life.

Dorothy married John Luethge and had three daughters, who inherited not only her love for musical theatre, but her good looks, style, sense of humor, and generosity. She worked as an Administrative Assistant at St. Louis University School of Medicine and at Washington University, Department of Biochemistry, and also at Meramec Community College.

At 50, she married Garth Essex Bell on November 25, 1972. Garth, who passed away in 2004, was an artist and Humanities Department Chair. Garth and Dorothy shared their faith and their love of travel and the arts. Together they traveled to Egypt, Israel, Marrakesh, South & Central America, and across Europe. Dorothy later traveled to China, and with Spirit Tours to South Africa, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Bali, and Thailand.

To know Dorothy was to love her. She was always the life of the party and the funniest and most stylish person in the room. She was fiercely competitive and loved playing, and often cheating at, board games with her family, even going so far as to make up words in scrabble. We have to mention, once again, how beautiful she was. At 99, she looked decades younger and anyone who met her would declare that they couldn’t believe her age. Not only did she look younger than she was, she never lost her quick wit, intelligence, and ability to flirt with men one-third her age.

Dorothy had an immensely positive and fighting spirit. Although Dorothy experienced health issues at the end of her life, her positivity made it so that she was everyone’s favorite patient. Most importantly, she loved fiercely and was there for everyone in her life when they most needed her. Anyone that she loved was supremely and utterly lucky because it meant that they had the toughest and most stubborn supporter on their side. There aren’t words enough to describe how deeply loved she was by every member of her family, even the ones who weren’t related to her by blood. May we all be so lucky to have an ounce of her grace, compassion, humor, and positivity.

Dorothy is survived by her loving daughters, Joan Shapiro and husband Glenn, Austin, TX, Janice Lloyd and husband David, Austin, TX, and Dorothy Cramer and husband James, Santa Rosa, CA and her grandchildren, Amber Snider, Stephanie Russell, Zach Cranor, Kelly Cramer, and Jimmy Cramer, as well as her Great Grandchildren, Nathan, Aiden, Fiona, and Stella Snider, Teagan McDowel, Amara Cutaia Omi, and Sienna Cramer. She will be missed by the many close friends who loved her, many of whom considered her their adopted mother or grandmother.

The family would like to give special thanks to St. David’s South Austin Medical Center, the WellMed Palliative Care nurses Shawn Leighton, Shandalyn Brookins, whose excellent, compassionate care and support allowed her daughters to provide Dorothy with a great quality of life at home these last few months.

A person like Dorothy Bell only comes around once a century; she will be greatly missed. How lucky we are to have someone we loved so much, who made our lives so full, that the world feels empty without her.

Memorial Service on Saturday, October 30 at 2:00 PM at Cook-Walden/Forest Oaks Funeral Home, 6300 West William Cannon Drive, Austin, Texas 78749. In order to attend the memorial service, a COVID-19 vaccination is required.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in the name of Dorothy Bell to Texas Performing Arts at The University of Texas at Austin: https://texasperformingarts.org/support