Frank Bell

Frank Bell died at Yale–New Haven Hospital on February 16, surrounded by his loving family. He succumbed to interstitial lung disease, which he had battled for two years.

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1939, Bell attended Phillips Academy at Andover, studied mechanical engineering at Yale University, and received a master’s in business administration from Harvard. He married Linda Herron DuPree in 1967, and they had two children, Sam and Marian.

Frank Bell spent most of his career working for himself as a financial consultant and estate planner in New York City. In 1971 the Bells bought a weekend and summer house in Norfolk, where he loved playing tennis and golf, and the family built many lasting friendships in the town. After purchasing a Doolittle Lake cabin in 1991, the Bells expanded it into a beautiful year-round home, to which they retired in 2004. Bell was a founding member of the Norfolk Economic Development Commission, and he served on the board of the Doolittle Lake Club, the Norfolk Country Club and the Coalition for Sound Growth.

Warm, irreverent, and charismatic, Frank Bell was especially beloved by his nieces and nephews. He is survived by his wife, Linda; his children, Sam and Marian, and their spouses, Celia and Nick; his grandchildren, Milo and Benno Gilhool; and his sisters, Margot Woodwell and Susan McIntosh.

In lieu of flowers or gifts, memorial contributions may be made to the Norfolk Festival Shed Restoration project, or to the Norfolk Library. A memorial celebration of his life is planned for the spring in Norfolk.

Photo courtesy of the Bell family.