Robert Bell

January 20, 1932 - November 3, 2021

Business Owner, Scientist, Technologist, Community Activist, Devout Christian, Philanthropist and Humanitarian.

Bob was born in Augusta, GA and graduated from Johnson High School when he was just 16 years old. He had decided at the age of five, while on a family trip to Detroit, Michigan upon seeing Wayne State University, that he would attend Wayne State. His mother was determined to see his dream fulfilled and when he completed high school, she left her job and moved with his stepfather, John, to Detroit. When he arrived in Detroit, and completed his Wayne application to enter, he was told he was too young to attend the University. The family had no money; consequently, Bob obtained work at a Detroit construction company. His mother had turned down the full scholarship he had been offered to attend Clark College (now Clark Atlanta University) located in Atlanta, Georgia.

When Bob was 18 years old, he reapplied to Wayne State U, was accepted, and worked his way through college mainly using the funds he gained through working at the US Postal Service. While at Wayne State, Bob was introduced to Marion Lee by one of his cousins who had met Marion while both were attending Bennett College in Greensboro, NC. Four years later Bob and Marion were married on June 25th of 1955.

Bob received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry, in 1955. His first professional job after completing college was as a Spectographer for the Convair, a Division of General Dynamics Corporation in San Diego, CA. While in San Diego, Bob and Marion’s first two children, Kelvin and Kristie, were born.

In the early 1960s, Bob learned of an opportunity to teach in Africa, while attending a United Methodist Men's Retreat. After some convincing, Marion agreed, and the family moved to the Congo. Because the official language in Congo was French, the family’s first stop en route to Congo was Brusseles, Belgium, where Bob (who also had French both in High School and Wayne State University), spent six months perfecting his French. He joined the field staff of Congo Polytechnic Institute (CPI) to serve as a teacher of science and mathematics at the CPI agricultural school located at Sandoa, Congo. While there, a third child, Kamin, was born. He later became director of one of the schools located in Gemena in northern Congo. The family was evacuated to the Central African Republic when rebels invaded Congo. They returned to the United States in 1965.

Upon his return to San Diego, Bob worked summers at General Dynamics and began work on his Masters of Science in Radiochemistry studies. He was then granted a full scholarship to attend Stanford University’s School of Business where he received an MBA in Finance in 1968.

When Bob left Stanford in June of 1968, he began his life as assistant manager with American Standard, in the Special Products Department in Piscataway, New Jersey. He was also co-manager for a newly established department which had responsibility for non-traditional new product review and the development of marketable units from incipient ideas and products evolving from the corporation's research and development activities. This responsibility included the planning, design and construction of a building for the manufacture of a new line of reverse osmosis products. During his tenure there, Bob and Marion’s fourth child, Keane, was born.

After two years at American Standard, he was offered an opportunity to serve as vice president at Cal Western University and to become the Director of the Urban League in San Diego. When American Standard received the message that he might be leaving the company, he was asked to head Training Corporation of America (TCA), a subsidiary of America Standard, in Washington, DC, which consisted of programs such as Job Corps, opening a hotel in Liberia, Africa, and extensive training programs for the US government.

Bob took the position in DC, initially commuting between there and his home in New Jersey, where he became very active in Faith United Methodist Church in Rockville, MD. He served as a member of the Africa University (Zimbabwe, Africa) Volunteers in Missions team, where he rebuilt computers, set up a computer lab, and assisted with the building of faculty housing. He also served as Chair of Staff Parish Relations and chaired the Finance Committees at Faith. Additionally, while he was president of TCA, he had numerous projects in Africa, including opening a beautiful new ocean front hotel (Hotel Victoria) in Robertsport, Liberia, Africa. In Nigeria, while working as a consultant with Warner and Warner International, when the entry of building supplies for the Nigerian Military housing was blocked, Bob chartered a DC10 to deliver the building materials, ensuring the housing project was completed on schedule.

Among the things he cherished most about his career, was serving as Chair of the Montgomery County (Maryland) Housing Opportunities Commission for many years. During the time he served as Chair, the Housing Commission worked with the county government to adopt a policy that included the fact that all new housing developments must include one section of that development for public service personnel such as policemen and teachers. This was historic! Consequently, if developers were building million-dollar homes, they had to include a comparable section for people with moderate incomes, such as teachers and policemen.

Bob also worked for the National Science Foundation, where he was responsible for providing science grants to colleges and universities in this country and abroad. He also worked for Africare for more than a decade and served as its Country Representative in several African countries, particularly where French was spoken, still fluent in French. He also served as Peace Corps Country Director in the Central African Republic and worked as a consultant with the Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC).

Much of Bob’s life was spent enriching the lives of others.

During his later professional years Bob was a Management Consultant, developing bid specifications, assisting in selection of software/hardware, and coordinating the installation of computer technology in both privately-operated and public schools through the use of microcomputers in standalone and networked configurations in the 1980s through 1990s. He provided recommendations for, as well as installation and maintenance of microcomputers, peripherals, and software applications. He taught individuals and groups the use of popular software packages and served as help-desk reference for word-processing, spreadsheet, and database information systems applications.

Oh, the interesting stories he could tell! Such as when he delivered a baby along the roadside, with no previous experience, driving a car without a gas tank, having his passport confiscated, walking on the streets of Africa with thousands of dollars in a plastic bag, collecting African art, and meeting with ambassadors and country presidents, to mention a few. He visited over 30 countries throughout Africa and Europe in his life.

His work continued in Las Vegas, Nevada where he lived with Marion for another 22 years. He worked at the Urban Chamber of Commerce of Las Vegas for 10 years. Among the Chamber’s many accomplishments was getting the Gaming Industry to employ people of color in administrative and executive positions.

Bob never learned to say “No” to anyone who asked for help. Among the organizations he also assisted are the Alpha Kappa Alpha organization, the Detroit Connection, the Bennett College Alumnae Association, the Inter-Alumni Council of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), and many more.

Bob was a member of Desert Spring United Methodist Church where he served as an Annual Conference Delegate and chaired the technology committee and served as photographer. He was also a member of the Desert Southwest Conference Foundation’s Board. He fundraised for Africa University in Zimbabwe, Africa, where he served twice as a member of the United Methodist Volunteers in Mission program, as well as returning twice just a few years ago to support Marion while she served as a Visiting Professor, teaching Transformational Leadership.

Bob and Marion celebrated 66 years of marriage this past year. He is survived by his wife, Marion Bell, Ed.D, four children and their families, Kelvin Bell, Kristie Bell Petershack, Kamin and Mark Samuel, Keane and Gwynne Bell, eight grandchildren, one great grandson, his brother-in-law, Robert Lee cousins Michael Tyler, Terry Tyler, Netha Fickling, Wendy Wilson and numerous others, including those who he gathered as if adopted children including, including, Jonathan Phelps, their godson, Gwen Easley Boykin, Karen Jacobs, Michelle Roy and Marc Kamuze, as well as many others who called him Papa Bob.

Bob’s memorial service will be at 1 pm PT on January 15th, 2022 at Desert Spring United Methodist Church in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to:

Stanford University at https://give.stanford.edu

A memorial service for Robert will be held Saturday, January 15, 2022 from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM at Desert Spring United Methodist Church, 120 North Pavilion Center Dr, Las Vegas, NV 89144.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.palmcheyenne.com for the Bell family.