Jean M. Bell

Jean M. Bell, 93, of Franklin, passed away at 8:58 P.M., Wednesday, April 21, 2021 at The Caring Place.

Born in Greenville she was the daughter of the late Joseph G and Mary Teresa Rice Bacher. The family moved to Franklin when Jean was two years old.

Jean graduated from Sacred Heart Academy in 1945 and from Franklin High School in 1946. She then went on to the Mercy School of Nursing in Pittsburgh, graduating in 1950.

She worked at Polk Center for 28 years and was Director of In Service Training at the time of her retirement.

On November 7, 1964, she married Richard M. Bell at St. Patrick Church in Franklin. He preceded her in death in 2005 after 40 years of marriage.

Jean was an active and faithful member of St. Patrick Church where she had been a Lector of many years.

She was an avid Pittsburgh Steeler and Pirates fan and participated in sports herself. She bowled on the Tuesday Nite Ladies League for 40 years and served as league secretary for many years. Jean also bowled in PA State Tournaments for 40 years. She was inducted into the Venango County Women’s Bowling Association Hall of Fame in 1989.

In June 1972 she helped to organize the Sleepy Hollow Ladies Golf League and served as chairman for a number of years. She also golfed with the Cross Creek Ladies for over 30 years and with the Elk’s Ladies League. After retirement, Jean and her beloved husband spent several years in Myrtle Beach.

She was past President of the F.O.E #328 Auxiliary and a longtime member of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas. She served on the original committee to procure funding to purchase the collection and building on Liberty St. for the DeBence Antique Music Museum.
Jean participated in the Prestigious Nurses’ Health Study, a long term study of Women’s health date, sponsored by the National Institute of Health at Harvard University since it’s onset in the 1950’s.

Jean was a practicing Genealogist who spent over 50 years researching the ancestry of the Kehoe, Rice and Bacher families and also the Bell and McCandless families having done them all with photos.

She was a loving aunt to many nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews, great-great nieces and nephews, one great-great-great nephew and many cousins.

In addition to her husband and parents, she was preceded in death by her sisters, Margaret Bell and Kathryn Lusher, her brother, William Bacher Sr., a nephew, a great niece and two-great nephews. Jean was the last surviving member of her immediate family.

There will be no public visitation.

Funeral arrangements entrusted to Huff-Guthrie Funeral Home & Cremation Services Inc., 312 West Park St. Franklin where a private family viewing will be held from 10:00 A.M. – 11:30 A.M. Monday.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 12:00 PM. Monday in St. Patrick Church, 949 Liberty St. Franklin with Father Kyle Seyler, officiating.

The church will have social distancing protocols in place and requires those who are attending to wear masks. We respectfully ask if you feel sick or have other health conditions to stay home and stay safe.

The funeral mass will be "live streamed" on the funeral home Facebook Page at 12:00 P.M. Monday. Please visit https://www.facebook.com/HuffFuneralHome and like the page to be notified when it begins.

Interment will be follow at St. Patrick Cemetery.

Memorial donations may be made to St. Patrick Church, 949 Liberty St. Franklin, PA 16323.
Online condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.HuffFuneral.com.