Louis J. Bell | Services set

Services have been scheduled for Louis J. Bell, 70, a retired Philadelphia police officer who died Wednesday, April 20, in a fire at his Northern Liberties home.

The Waller Robinson Gray Funeral Home said a viewing had been set for 8:30 a.m. Saturday, April 30, at St. Peter the Apostle Roman Catholic Church, Fifth Street and Girard Avenue, followed by a 10:30 a.m. Funeral Mass there.

Burial is to be in Greenmount Cemetery.

A Philadelphia police spokeswoman said Mr. Bell was on the force from November 1969 to June 1992. In May 1985, Mr. Bell was one of two officers on the Anti-Crime Team who were honored for bravery by Mayor W. Wilson Goode.

His wife, Mina, said Mr. Bell was born in Philadelphia, graduated from Overbrook High School, took classes in sociology at Temple University, and served in the Army. She said he had needed a wheelchair after becoming ill three years ago.

In the April 20 fire, she said, "we lost everything in that house," on Fifth Street near Poplar Street, which had been "our home for 40 years."

But, she said, the family hopes to rebuild.

Besides his wife, Mr. Bell is survived by sons Reginald, Larry, Kevin, and Rodney; a daughter, Terry Hill; two brothers; a sister; 15 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.