M.L. Bell

M.L. was born on June 5th, 1932, to Jim and Sadie Bell in Longview, Texas. He was their only child. Although he was an only child, he was never lonely. He was close to his cousins, who served as his surrogate brothers and sisters. M.L. attended Weldon High School. While attending Weldon, M.L. played the tuba in the school's marching band. After graduation, M.L. enlisted in the U.S. Army, where he bravely served his country during the Korean War. He was honorably discharged in 1955.

M.L. Bell's life took a significant turn when he met Nelsene Odom at the Tyler Hospital in 1960. Their shared dedication to caring for tuberculosis patients laid the foundation for a strong bond, which they sealed in marriage on August 19th, 1963. Nelsene embraced her role as a stepmother to M.L.'s three young boys, Larry, Gerald, and Mark, and their family expanded with the birth of their daughter, Sharon. This growing family was a testament to M.L.'s love and commitment to his loved ones.

In his professional career, M.L. became sergeant for the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department. He worked as a police officer until he started working with the Kansas City Kansas Public School District as an attendant security officer at Argentine Middle School and Harmon High School. During his tenure at Harmon High School, M.L. was affectionately named "Brother Bell" by the students he worked with. Past students still refer to him as "Brother Bell" today. His family members have heard many humorous stories over the years of his adventures while working at Harmon. M.L. was promoted to Head of Attendant Security and remained in the position until his retirement in 1999. Anyone who knew and loved M.L. was aware that he had a hard time sitting still, so after a year of retirement, M.L. returned to work as an Operation Brightside employee with the Unified Government of Wyandotte County. He was employed with Operation Brightside for twenty years until his second retirement in 2020.

M.L. loved to keep himself busy and tinker around with things. One of his favorite pastimes was working on classic cars and restoring them. Unfortunately, M.L. always found "spare parts" when working on vehicles. One time, he was working on his daughter Sharon's brakes. Upon putting everything back together, some pieces did not return to the car. When asked why, he stated, "Those were just spare parts; they were not really needed." M.L. loved to be on the move and loved being outside. You would often find M.L. outside cutting his lawn, tinkering with his lawn mower, or sitting in his folding chair, people-watching from his garage. He was a friendly face in his neighborhood and enjoyed talking and getting to know all of his neighbors.

M.L. was preceded in death by his parents, Jim and Sadie, his sons Mark and Gerald, his grandson Elnondo, his cousin Carl Williams, and his best friend, Harold Toombs. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Nelsene; his son Larry and daughter-in-law Yvonne; his daughter Sharon and her fiancé Kurt Thompson; his son-in-law Ray Sawyer, "Big" Ray Sawyer; grandchildren Sydney, Gabrielle, Isiah and Antron, six great-grandchildren, good buddies Jerry Manlove and Elmer Thomas and close family friends Janice, Corie and Courtney Toombs as well as beloved family and friends that loved and adored M.L.