Elva N Bell

Elva Morene Nunnelee Bell was born on July 21, 1925, to her proud parents, Carl and Golden Nunnelee, at their home in Clinton, Kentucky. She was the second of eleven children which included five boys and six girls. She passed from this life into the eternal presence of Jesus Christ on July 1, 2024, at the age of 98 years, 11 months and ten days, just three weeks short of her 99th birthday.

About the time she was old enough to start school the family moved to a small farm outside Frayser, Tennessee, where she attended elementary school at a country school. When she was 12 years old, she confessed her faith in Jesus Christ and was baptized into Christ and added to His church. She faithfully lived out her faith for the next 86 years. She attended High School in Bartlett, Tennessee which was approximately 12 miles from their home. After graduating High School she attended Memphis State for two years. While in college, she worked at a laundry washing customers’ clothes and in the office. After college, she worked at Life & Casualty Insurance Company of Tennessee. In 1945, she was also part of the Volunteer Nurse’s Aide Corps with the American National Red Cross.

Somewhere around the 23rd of November, 1950, Elva met a young man at church who caught her eye with his blonde wavy hair and blue eyes. As it turns out, she caught his eye as well with her beautiful eyes, curled hair and petite figure. She and Melvin Bell began to date, and just 30 days later they were married on December 23, 1950. And they enjoyed 65 years of happy marriage.

Their home was blessed with three daughters: Barbara in 1951, Lynn in 1955 and Susie in 1958. When Susie was nine months old, they moved to Mobile, Alabama where Melvin worked a civil service job for the Air Force at Brinkley Air Force Base. That base was shut down in 1967 which led the family to move to Oklahoma City in 1967 where he took a civil service job at Tinker Air Force Base. Elva was mostly a homemaker, but when Susie was in High School she took an accounting job with JC Penney’s in Crossroads Mall so she could earn extra money to help pay for extra curricular activities with the school. She ended up staying with JC Penney’s for fifteen years.

Upon moving to Oklahoma City, the family visited the Del City church of Christ and fairly quickly became members. She and Melvin were each faithful members until their deaths. Elva volunteered to serve in the nursery on occasion and helped bake cakes for Meals On Wheels for 40 years.

Elva had an adventurous spirit and became a world traveler. In the early 1970s, Elva and her mom went to the Holy Land with a group from the Del City church led by Roy McMillon. In 1977, she went with Susie and the Del Aires to Hawaii as one of the sponsors. She used to say that growing up she never thought she would ever leave Tennessee. She was thrilled to have gotten to see so much of the world.

Elva was preceded in death by her parents, four brothers, five sisters, and her husband of 65 years, Melvin Bell. She is survived in this life by three daughters: Barbara Sayre (and husband Michael) of Columbus, OH, Lynn Wresche (and husband Kelly) of Sapulpa, OK, and Susie Gardner (and husband Jeff) of Ramah, NM; three grandsons: Charles Bokis IV (and wife Mimi) of Rancho Mission Viejo, CA, Chris Bokis of Mustang, OK, and Matt Gardner (and wife Abby) of Lena, MS; six great-grandchildren: Cameron Bokis, Irie Bokis, Adreana Gaudet, Grace Gardner, Jaxon Gardner and Matthew Gardner Jr.; one brother: Lilburn Nunnelee of Pensacola, FL; many nieces and nephews, as well has a host of brothers and sisters in Christ.

The family would like to express the deepest appreciation to the Management and Staff of Wellington Parke Assisted Living and the Staff of Affinity Care of Oklahoma for the compassionate care given to Elva during the past few weeks and months.

In lieu of flowers, donations to the Del City church of Christ Meals on Wheels ministry, which was very dear to Elva, would be greatly appreciated.

A funeral service for Elva will be held Friday, July 5, 2024 at 10:00 AM at Del City Church of Christ, 1901 Vickie Dr, Del City, OK 73115. A graveside service will occur at Sunny Lane Cemetery, 4000 SE 29th St, Del City, OK 73115.

Serving as pallbearers are Chris Bokis, Cameron Bokis, Charles Bokis, Roy Boydstun, Kelly Wresche, Michael Sayre, Melvin Thompson, Dutch Schneider and Darrel Sullivan.