Patricia Bethea Bell (May 15, 1931 - November 22, 2015) With great sadness we announce the passing of Patricia Bethea Bell. Mrs. Patricia Bethea Bell (née Nelms Bethea), of Dunwoody, passed away on Sunday, November 22, 2015 at the age of 84. Pat was born to parents Major William Linton and Ethel Vivian Bethea (nee Nelms) on May 15, 1931 in Augusta, GA. Linton was serving the Medical Corps and a veteran of the First World War. Pat was the second of Linton and Ethel’s children (her older brother Robert passed away in September 2015). When Pat was 6, the family moved to Fort Bayard, New Mexico where Linton was reassigned. She lived in New Mexico till she was 13. Her whole life, she held many fond memories of the New Mexico terrain and lifestyle. In the Fall of 1944, the family moved to Redondo Beach, CA. She would spend her high school years during the post-war boom of Southern California. Linton passed away during this time and as she graduated High School, Pat and her mother moved back to Ethel’s hometown of Thorndale,PA. Pat entered West Chester University and graduated in 1953 with a degree in Elementary Education. For several years she taught fourth and second grade classes, until 1957 when she enrolled in a graduate program at Duke University. She went on to get her graduate degree from Duke and in the summer of 1958 started teaching on the American Army base in Kaiserslautern, Germany. Pat met Chuck Bell in Kaiserslautern, Germany in 1959. Chuck was stationed there as a Captain in the US Army. When Chuck signed up for the Rangers he was transferred to Fort Benning, Ga. and he asked Pat to marry him. The couple was wed in Fort Benning, GA. just as Chuck went off to Ranger training. In 1961, after the birth of their first son, Charles Stuart, the couple moved to Fort Lee, Virginia. Pat continued to teach. Then in the winter of 1962 Chuck was shipped to Korea and the family went with him. While in Korea, the Bell’s had two more children, Robert Blair and David Scott. In 1964, Chuck retired from military service and moved back to the states. For a time the family lived in Millus, MA. Finally, the family moved to Atlanta in 1966 and Pat has lived at the same residence in Dunwoody ever since. All that knew her, will remember how much she loved her pets, her family, her friends and whatever adventures she could combine with those three elements. Her loyalty, her wit and her smile will not be forgotten by anyone she graced. Pat is survived by her three sons; Charles Stuart (wife Marvel), Robert Blair and David Scott (wife Jennifer); and three grandsons; William Cooper, Jackson Connor and Hunter Yeats. A ceremony will take place at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church in Dunwoody. 4755 N Peachtree Rd, Atlanta, GA 30338. The family is grateful for the condolences and asks that in lieu of flowers a donation be made to Well Pet Humane. https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/atlantaanimalalliance
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