Leonard John Bell

Hyannis-

Leonard J. "Jack" Bell died peacefully on Tuesday, January 24th after recently celebrating his 96th birthday.

Jack was born on January 1st, 1921 to Josephine (Morrissey) and Oliver Bell. He was the youngest of five children, all of whom had predeceased him.

In his youth Jack was a caddy at the Hyannisport Golf Club where he developed an interest in golf that he sustained until well into his fifties. He began what would later become a career as a plumber for J.D. Cannon in 1938 while still in school. He graduated from Barnstable High School in 1940.

Drafted into The Second World War he was a decorated Staff Sergeant in The U.S. Army Air Corps. He served as a radar mechanic with the 386th Bomb Group, 553rd Bombardment Squadron primarily in the European Theater. His decorations and citations included Marksman Carbine, a Good Conduct medal as well as a European/African/Middle Eastern Theater Campaign ribbon and a Distinguished Unit badge in the 9th Army Air Corps. Jack was home on leave when the war ended in 1945 and would have been subsequently stationed in the South Pacific upon his return. He was honorably discharged from the service.

Soon after the war he met and later married Lois C. (Melzard) with whom he fathered three children who survive him to this day; Deborah Blakely (George) of Barnstable, Russell Bell (Karin) of Naples, FL, and Christopher Bell (Nicole) of West Barnstable.

In 1950 Jack started his plumbing business and counted among his first customers the family of Ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy, who hired him personally. He had already had a lasting affiliation with the Kennedy family from a very young age.

Jack operated his plumbing business for well over fifty years. He proudly worked for several generations of Hyannisport families in that time and was well respected in his field as a Master Plumber.

Jack served on the Barnstable Board of Health, was treasurer of the Barnstable Democrat Town Committee, and was an officer of the 4th degree as a member of The Knights of Columbus. He was a past president of the Cape Cod PHCC. For many years he was an appointed registrar of voters for the Town of Barnstable.

Jack was an outgoing and sociable man who could often be found before work and in retirement at a local coffee shop attempting to solve the problems of the world with a contingent of like-minded individuals too numerous to quantify.

Jack is also survived by his grandchildren Tenley Spry (Michael) of Silverthorn, CO, Joshua Blakely (Fauz) of Barnstable, and Damien Bell of Centerville. His great grandchildren are Elias, Sophia, and Wyatt Blakely of Barnstable in addition to many loving nieces and nephews from around the country.

Relatives and friends are sincerely invited to a celebration of Jack's life at a Catholic Mass at Our Lady of Victory Church in Centerville on Friday, February 10th, 2017 at ten o'clock a.m. followed by a private burial.

In lieu of flowers we respectfully request that donations be made to the Cape & Islands Veterans' Outreach Center in Hyannis for their exemplary assistance and kindness to Jack for which we are eternally grateful. We would also like to offer an expression of gratitude to Jack's friends who touched his life with overtures of good will and friendship.