William Harvey Bell

William Harvey Bell, age 93, died Friday, November 8, 2019, in Albuquerque, NM. due to complications of pneumonia.

Colonel William Bell (often shortened to Colonel, or simply Bill) was born in Atlantic, IA, on Wednesday, September 8, 1926 and graduated from Tarkio High School in Tarkio, MO. Acquiring a love of flying in his teens, he flew crop dusters and barnstormed a path across the mid-Western countryside in old biplanes.

Enlisting in the Army in 1943, he served through WWII, Korea, and Vietnam in the Army, Army Air Corps and, finally, the United States Air Force. For thirty-two years, he served our nation with honor and distinction, rising in rank from Private to Colonel; was wounded twice; and was highly decorated. During these years, he also received his B.S. degree at the University of New Mexico where he became a brother in the Sigma Chi Fraternity.

In 1947 Bill was a member of U.S. Air Force Pilot Class 48B where he was among many who would become life-long friends. This was the last Army Air Force pilot class to train and the first USAF Pilot Class to train on jets!

Reunions were held but Bill wanted to commemorate this USAF Pilot Class in an historic way, so he turned to his classmates and together they funded four brass plaques; one for each of their training bases. In 2014 these plaques were placed at Barksdale AFB in Bossier City, LA; the Williams AFB Museum in Chandler, AZ, Randolph AFB in Universal City, Texas; and the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, OH in 2014.

In Korea, he was in the Mosquito Squadron which created a large-scale, effective forward air control (FAC) system that included both airborne and ground based FACs. The primary FAC missions were to direct strike aircraft against enemy targets and conduct visual reconnaissance.

He was a combat pilot until a back injury grounded him. In later years, Bill was actively involved in the reunions and efforts to find squadron members who had lost touch.

He began a new career in Counter-Intelligence. At the height of Cold War, he was responsible for Eastern Bloc human intelligence. Though many of his operations were fraught with incredible danger, he never wavered.

It was on a visit to New York City on Easter Sunday in 1956, he met the love of his life, Suzanne Shanahan, at the taping of “The Ed Sullivan Show”. Married six months later in October, they traveled to Munich, Germany, where he was assigned for duty, and where their three children were born. The family also lived in Niagara Falls and Rochester, NY, Montgomery (Maxwell AFB), AL, then assigned back to Wiesbaden, Germany, where Mrs. Bell accompanied her husband on many diplomatic tours of Europe while he networked with intelligence personnel of various friendly countries. He was reassigned to Montgomery, AL and, upon his retirement from the Air Force in 1975, the family moved to Riverside, CA.

Colonel Bell was invested as a Knight Templar in 1989 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The Knights Templar uphold the ageless ideals of Chivalry and Christian religious commitment and protection, Crusade historical research, and fighting today’s enemies of society, namely disease and social distress, through charitable efforts and fundraising. He rose to the rank of Bailff of the Knights Templar of North America.

Family was most important to him and he made countless sacrifices because of his love for them. Bill was a loving husband and hands-on father. Suzanne and Bill attended every event, game, gymkhana, parade, play, recital, and talent show in which their children participated. There were family excursions and road trips in Europe and the U.S.A. and so many adventures telling them would fill a tome in and of itself! Their three children deeply admired, adored, and respected both of their loving parents.

His love of family extended not just to his immediate family but his ancestral family as well. He was very proud of his Scottish roots. Because of his decades of research, in 1983, Clan Bell was once again recognized by the Lyon Court in Scotland as a Clan. The Clan tartan was destroyed by the English long ago so Bill (with Bob Martin) designed a tartan for the Clan in early 1984. The tartan is recognized by the Scottish Register of Tartans and registered with the Society of Antiquities of Scotland.

For several decades Colonel Bell served as President of Clan Bell International which later became Clan Bell, North America. He was President Emeritus of Clan Bell, North America.

He spent much his retired life tracing his family genealogy deep into the past, recently uncovering a connection for which he had long been searching.

In August 2013, after the death of his wife, Colonel Bell moved from Riverside, CA to Rio Rancho, NM. There he reconnected with friends from “the old days,” particularly his Sigma Chi brothers. A life-long Sigma Chi, Colonel Bell assisted in revitalizing the Alumni organization. He served as Secretary-Treasurer for the Sigma Chi Alumni Chapter of New Mexico for several years.

Always the epitome of a gentleman, everyone loved Bill. He was quick with a joke or a kind word. He formed friendships that lasted a lifetime. So many people looked up to him, yet he was humble. Though he did not think of himself as one, he was a true hero.

Above all other pursuits, Bill loved flying. In his time, he had enjoyed football, golf, tennis, and bowling, and other physical games. He particularly enjoyed reading both fiction and non-fiction. He loved music and listened to many genres including Russian music, classical guitars, 40’s, and country and western. He also very much enjoyed watching films, particularly war films, documentaries, westerns and romantic comedies.

There were always animals, particularly cats, in the Bell home. Bill loved them. He was incredibly kind and loving to animals. There was often a cat curled up in his lap or a dog at his feet and that’s the way he liked it.

Colonel Bell is predeceased by his father, Ray Anderson Bell; his mother, Ina Wolfe Bell; his brother, James Maurice Bell; his loving wife of 56 years, Suzanne Jane Shanahan Bell; his devoted son, William Michael Shanahan Bell; and his grandson, Raymond Garcia.

Surviving are his daughters, Suzanne Kathleen Bell de Garcia of Long Beach, CA, and Kathleen Shanahan Bell of Rio Rancho, NM; his grandson, Alexander Javier Garcia-Bell of Long Beach; his sons-in-law, Javier Garcia of Long Beach and Liam Wolffe of Rio Rancho; his niece, Eva Lynn Wallert of Axtell, KS; and his grandnephew, Dr. Joseph J. Pilsl and his wife, Audrey, of Marysville, KS and their children, Clayton, Carolyn, Brenner and Michael.

P.S. He loved cheese!