Shirley Jean Bell

Shirley Jean McElroy Bell, age 80, of Monticello, passed away Wednesday, January 11, 2012, at Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock, AR. She was born October 23, 1931, in Ozark, AR, to the late Earnest Hansell McElroy and Fernie Mae Vandagriff McElroy. She was the widow of William Robert Bell, to whom she was married for 42 years. She was a retired college English professor and was of the Unitarian Universalist faith. Mrs. Bell was a 1950 graduate of Ozark High School and then attended Hendrix College, where she received her Bachelors of Arts degree in education in 1954. She obtained her Masters of Education degree from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1957 and later earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in art from the University of Arkansas at Monticello in 1986. Mrs. Bell's civic, community and professional activities were numerous. She was a former member of the Arkansas College Teachers of English Association, Arkansas Philosophical Association, Modern Language Association, South Central Modern Language Association, American Association of University Professors, American Association of University Women, Faculty Dames Club and the American Radio Relay League. Her current memberships included the Monticello Art League, for which she was a board member and past president, Friends of the Library, board member of the Southeast Regional Library Association, American Rifle Association, Drew County Retired Teachers Association, Master Gardeners of the Delta, Uppity Women Coffee Group, Bluestockings Book Club and Southeast Arkansas Concert Association. Her many hobbies included painting, drawing, ceramics, amateur radio, gardening, reading, playing the organ and piano, crafts, interior design, photography, sewing, email, friends and family. Survivors include her daughter, Roberta Alysoun Bell Laventhal and husband, Nahum, of New Orleans, La.; two brothers, John McElroy and wife Carolyn, deceased, of Texarkana, Texas; David McElroy and wife, Lisa, of Barling, Ark.; two sisters, Ann Hall and husband, Ralph, of Bryant, Ark.; and Charlene Creech and husband, Jim, of Jonesboro, Ark. and one grandson, Dylan Laventhal, of Baton Rouge, La. The funeral service will be at 12:30 p.m., Sunday at the Stephenson-Dearman Funeral Chapel with Ann Hilgeman officiating. Burial will be in the Plumerville Cemetery in Plumerville, Ark. at 4 p.m. Memorials may be made to the Monticello Branch Library, 107 E. Jackson, Monticello, Ark. 71655. Visitation will be held from 6 to 8 p.m., Saturday evening at the funeral home. The family will be meeting guests at her home at 116 Mark Circle in Monticello. The online guestbook can be found at www.stephensondearman.com.