Ivan Clifford Bell

Ivan was born March 23, 1930 on the family homestead in Strattion, Ontario to William A. Bell and Ruth (Beaman) Bell. He spent his first 19 years there before the family moved eastward to LaSeine & Mine Centre. He worked with the Dept. of Lands & Forests as a forest ranger & firefighter. It was in Mine Centre that he met Marilyn Matchett, the girl he would marry.

Shortly after Ivan & Marilyn were married in 1955, they moved to Churchill, Manitoba where he was employed with the Dept. of National Defense on the Canadian military base there. It was here their first son was born. Life in the north at that time was very hard; they came home to Fort Frances and they welcomed their second son. Ivan spent the reminder of his 31 working years with the Fort Frances Board of Education as Head Caretaker at both the High School and Robert Moore.

In the late 1960s Ivan & Marilyn built their cabin on Little Turtle Lake at Mine Centre, a special place they loved; to them it was going home. The family made wonderful memories there – the boys with dirt bikes, fishing, hunting, trapping minnows, shore lunches, picking berries, exploring the old mining sites in the Mine Centre area, wrestling with the docks as Little Turtle Lake levels rose and fell, sharing BBQs & great meals with family, friends & neighbours on the lake.

Ivan’s priority was his family first & foremost; he took great pride in their accomplishments & was a loving, steadfast husband, dad & grandpa. He was heard to say his only regret was having to wait until he was an old man of 73 years before he became a grandpa. Jassi was the light of his life. He was unassuming, private, compassionate man with a tender heart. His word was his bond. He was a man of quiet faith following the golden rule of “do unto others” in his daily living. He had a love of animals and was especially a strong supporter of ethical treatment of farm animals. He had a keen interest in carpentery, working with wood & later in his retirement years when he had the time, enjoyed his workshop at their home on Frenette Ave., building things such as small furniture, coffee & end tables, toy chests & other beautiful creations he crafted with cedar & pine.

In his mid-80’s as dementia was insidiously stealing his mind, it became necessary for him to join the residents of Rainycrest. His caregivers & staff were “the girls” – he often said they were the best. They spoiled him, sharing treats & lunches with him as he kept them company many evenings at the nurse’s station when he wouldn’t go to bed. He kept a keen eye on their comings and goings; he could be quite feisty & wasn’t at all shy to give them his opinions, advice or directions whenever he thought they needed it.

Ivan leaves behind Marilyn, his loving wife of 61 years; sons Mike & Lindsay, daughter-in-law Lesley & precious granddaughter Jastra; brother David (Dianne) & family Wade (Janet), Deborah & Shane (Brande); his sister Marie’s family Judy (Tim), Kenneth, Don (Susan) and Barbara; sister-in-law Carol (Jack) Booth of Devlin & Family Andrea, Carla, Alyson (Chad) and Scott (Brooke). Surviving too are sisters-in-law Cora Schorsch of Chicago and family Albert (Betsy), Brian (Rose), Kurt (Joanne), Greg, Glenn (Mary)& Jennifer; & Naida Wolff of Thunder Bay & family Grace and Grant.

Predeceasing Ivan was his brother Gordon in WW2-France 1944; sisters Marie Bodnarchuck & Patricia McCuaig; nephew Martin Bell; brother Jack McCuaig; sister-in-law Lois Matchett Babcock; brothers-in-law Larry Thompson, Albert Schorsch, Joe Wolff and Frank Babcock.

Ivan requested that there be no funeral. His wish was that his cremains be laid in the family plot in Riverview Cemetery, Colonization Rd W. in Fort Frances. And so it will be.

Online condolences may be made in care of www.greenfuneralhomefortfrances.com.