Nancy Carol Bell

Nancy Carol Bell, 82, was born in 1935 in Arthur, Illinois and passed away peacefully at her home in Glendale, Arizona on January 10, 2018. She fell Christmas morning walking her puppy which resulted in a traumatic brain injury.

Nancy was the first in her family to earn a college degree. She taught high school English, Speech, and Drama near St. Louis, Missouri. Following that she was a stay-at-home mother for many years. She later worked in Missouri, licensing day-care homes, and then worked for the American Red Cross and the National Kidney Foundation as a professional fundraiser. She earned her professional certification as a Certified Professional Fundraiser, and then worked in Florida fundraising for non profit organizations until she retired.

A lifelong Democrat, Nancy was an activist rallying for the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970's and supported the Dream Act in more recent times. She received the Claude Pepper Award in Lake County Florida in 2005, and was a Florida Democratic State Committee woman from Lake county for 8 years. A highlight of her political activities was serving as a Delegate to the Democratic National Convention when she lived in Florida. She was also on the Martin Luther King Breakfast Committee for 4 years, and received the Adult Community Service Award in 2012 in Florida. Nancy was a 50+ year active lifetime member of American Association of University Women (AAUW), a 20+ year active member of League of Women Voters, an active Rotarian for 16 years, a co-founder and coordinator of the Tri-County Interfaith Alliance in central Florida and in Arizona she was also a member of the Arizona Interfaith Movement, Phoenix Writers Club and Somos America Coalition . Nancy was always an active member of each church she was in, in Missouri, Florida, and Arizona. She was a member of Shadow Rock United Church of Christ in Phoenix after she moved to Arizona in March 2016 to be closer to her children.

Nancy wrote and directed a number of performances at Reader's Theaters. Her most recent one was "Memories of World War II When We Were Children", which had multiple performances in Florida and Phoenix, Arizona. The current Reader's Theater she was working on was an adaptation that she co-authored of the book "The Faith Club", which had multiple performances in Florida and which she was planning to direct in Arizona. She also wrote a children's book called "The Puzzling Case of the Pleasingly Plump Mouse at Penny's House".

Nancy was preceded in death by her husband of 56 years, John H. Bell, and also by her older siblings, Merrill, Doris, and Margie. Survivors include daughter Andrea Bell, daughter Amy Miskell and her husband Steven, grandson Daniel McCluer and his wife Jenna, nieces Joellen Johnson, Billie Long, Kathy Haugh-Russell, Debbie Howell, sister-in-law Beverly Dean and many great nieces and nephews.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held Saturday February 3, 2018 at 2:00 PM at Shadow Rock United Church of Christ, 12861 N. 8th Ave. Phoenix, AZ 85029. Another service will be held on Sunday, February 11, 2018 at 3:00 PM at United Church of Christ at the Villages, 12514 County Road 101, Oxford, Florida 34484.

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations to Shadow Rock United Church of Christ in Phoenix, AZ, UCC Church at the Villages in Oxford, FL or the Southern Poverty Law Center.