William Joe Bell

Mr. William Joe “Billy” Bell, 85, of Macon, MS passed away at his residence on Saturday, May 24, 2014. His funeral service will be held on Tuesday,May 27, 2014 at 3:00 P.M. at Independent Methodist Church (511 N Washington Street) with Rev. Barry Hathcock and Rev. Ricky Glenn officiating. Interment will follow in Oddfellows Cemetery in Macon. Visitation will be held Tuesday at the church from 1:30 until service time. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to Palmer Home for Children or to the charity of the donor’s choice. Cockrell Funeral Home of Macon (www.cockrellfuneralhome.com) is entrusted with the arrangements.

Mr. Bell was born in Tularosa, New Mexico, on Dec. 28, 1928 to the late Richard Thomas and Hallie Edwards Bell. Upon the death of his mother, he moved to Noxubee County, MS where he and his two older sisters, Lois Bell (Green) and Louise Bell (Barton) were raised by their uncle and aunt, Joe and Lucy Bell. Mr. Bell graduated from Macon High School in 1947 and began working for the Macon Electric Department. During the Korean War, he served with the U.S. Army as a linesman. After his term of service, Mr. Bell returned to Macon and began working for Hooker Chemical Co. in Columbus as an electrician. He remained at this job for twenty years before opening Bell Electric in Macon, where he was self-employed until his retirement. Mr. Bell was a founding member of Independent Methodist Church in Macon and was a member of the Masonic Lodge and a Hamasa Shriner.

Mr. Bell is survived by his wife of 64 years, Hellon Davis Bell of Macon; one daughter: Jane Elizabeth Bell of Madison, MS; one son: William Joe Bell, Jr. (Betty), of Macon. He also leaves behind two granddaughters: Meredith Wood Bell of Memphis, TN and Ellen Elizabeth Bell of Columbus, MS and one grandson: William Walker Bell of Macon. Also surviving him are two nieces: Nancy Gorenflo of Pachuta, MS and Anne Foshee of Lucedale, MS and one nephew: Thomas Cockrell of Quinton, VA.