Carolyn Bell

Carolyn was born on Jan. 1, 1930, to Edna Mae and Oliver Bell, Sr., in Indianapolis, and was the younger sister to Oliver, Jr. She attended School 26 and School 42, before attending Crispus Attucks High School. Carolyn was a proud member of the close-knit Class of 1947 Alumni Club and participated on reunion committees for many years until poor health made it too difficult.

As a child she was baptized at New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, where she remained a member for the rest of her life. Carolyn married Henry L. Dabney of Indianapolis, and later Clarence “Bud” Foote of Las Vegas.

Her career took many turns until Carolyn found her calling to serve others. She worked as a tutor for Indianapolis Public Schools, and then became a house parent at the Indiana School for the Blind, where she brought her motherly wisdom and compassion and was a favorite among her charges. After retiring, Carolyn earned her Associate’s Degree as a paralegal and continued her life of service as an advocate for the elderly at the Senior Law Project for Legal Services of Indiana. She said it was her silver hair that earned the trust of her beloved clients.

In her private life, Carolyn had a green thumb and kept a large variety of thriving plants both inside and outside. She was the family ‘plant doctor’ and could nurse a dying plant back to health in no time. She also had a passion for the arts, her taste in music spanned many years and genres, and jazz was always a staple. Carolyn loved art and enjoyed collecting a wide variety of vivid paintings and sculptures, mostly by Black artists. She was an avid reader and loved a good mystery.

Carolyn was a compassionate and loving mother and grandmother, and loved to travel often to visit with out-of-town family members. She was the mother who loved her children unconditionally, the grandmother that brought special joy to every visit and the rock of her loving family. Her passing leaves a void in the hearts of all those who came to know her.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Oliver and Edna Mae; brother, Oliver Jr.; grandson Timothy Jones; and great-grandson Tony Rehlander-Foote.

As a living legacy of love, she is survived by daughter Marsha Jo Dabney of Indianapolis; son Michael (Angela) Dabney of Indianapolis; daughter Patricia (Nate) Hartley of Portland, Oregon; and sons David (Julie) Dabney of Indianapolis, Clarence “Butch” (Linda) Foote of Idlewild, Michigan, and Eric (Veronica) Foote of Indianapolis; 15 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren; and a host of relatives and longtime friends.