January 28, 2010

Virginia May Barr Bell

The memorial service for Virginia May Barr Bell, 95, former LaCrosse resident who died Jan. 22, 2010, at Pullman Regional Hospital, will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010, at Selbu Lutheran Church in LaCrosse with Pastor Dennis Bay officiating.

A catered meal will follow.

A private family burial is at 9:30 a.m. at the LaCrosse cemetery.

Mrs. Bell was born near Hooper April 3, 1914, to Harvey and Della May Harvey Barr. She graduated from Colfax High School in 1931 and Cheney Normal School in 1933. She began teaching at the one-room Benge School at age 19 for a monthly salary of $55.

She was principal there for the two years and then taught at Riparia. She was the only teacher for three years of unaccredited high school.

There were no school buses then.

To complete their fourth year to get their high school diploma, the students had to leave home and pay board and room.

She and Urgel G. Bell were married in Riparia on May 25, 1935. Her husband died Aug. 3, 1994. Mrs. Bell and her husband farmed in the Riparia, Hooper and LaCrosse areas until they retired in 1971.

A long-time supporter of Cougar Athletics, the WSU Foundation and Cougar Club, she was also a member of LaCrosse Reading Club, Farm Women’s Club, a 62-year member of Emerald Chapter LaCrosse Eastern Star and a member of United Methodist Church.

She was also a member of Eastern Washington State University Foundation.

A life-long Republican, she was active at local and state levels.

She is survived by four daughters and sons-in-law, Linda and Bob Brison, Greenbank, Whidbey Island; Lola and Gene Aune, LaCrosse; Lorna and Greg Burns, Endicott and Loretta and Roger Daniel, Hooper; 14 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren (number 26 arriving this summer); one brother, Scott (Dollie) Barr, Colville; sister, Della Mae (Bill) Evans, Hooper; sisters-in-law Zella Miller, Spokane; Rita (Bob) Eisele, Walla Walla and brother-in-law, Roy Bell, The Dalles, Ore. She was preceded in death by one brother and wife, Clay and Betty Barr.

Memorial gifts may be given to the Urgel Bell Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o Stacy Aune, 101 Wigen Rd., LaCrosse, Wash.