Robert Bell, educator in Delco

Robert Dudley Bell Sr., 89, formerly of Drexel Hill, an educator who knew how to play and prompted others to do the same, died Saturday, Aug. 6, of cancer at Shannondell at Valley Forge, a retirement community.

A child of the Great Depression, Mr. Bell, who grew up at 50th and Catharine Streets in West Philadelphia, developed a knack for turning household items into toys. The imagination and playfulness he showed early on reemerged later. As a teacher and recreation director in the William Penn School District in Delaware County, he introduced games and projects to schoolchildren from Aldan, Colwyn, Darby Borough, East Lansdowne, Lansdowne, and Yeadon.

"Children who grew up there will remember the peanut scrambles, potato sack races, and parachute games he organized every summer," daughter Barbara Ann Bell wrote in a remembrance.

He was an avid student of Pennsylvania history, as well as a wide variety of sports and games, including golf, basketball, and ultimate Frisbee.

"His community, children and grandchildren benefited from his enthusiasm for play and the importance of recreation," said his son, Steven R. Bell.

A 1945 graduate of West Philadelphia High School, Mr. Bell earned a bachelor's degree in 1951 from what was then West Chester State Teachers College.

He served as a machine gunner in the Army starting on March 19, 1945, about two months before V-E Day, and was honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant on Jan. 10, 1947. He received the World War II Victory Medal and the Army of Occupation Medal.

Before serving in the military, Mr. Bell became one of many volunteers between the ages of 14 and 17 who responded to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's call for 500,000 boys and girls to help in the farm fields.

In January 1943, Roosevelt delivered a national address emphasizing the importance of American agriculture in winning the war. With farmers' sons and hired men fighting abroad, those left behind had to help produce food - an effort that became known as the U.S. Crop Corps. Mr. Bell told of helping out at a farm in the Philadelphia suburbs and lodging at a boarding school.

In 1951, Mr. Bell began teaching at Walnut Street Elementary School in Darby Borough. He was devoted to the parents, students, and other teachers, and encouraged collaborative projects that made them proud of their hometown, his son said.

One was a public service announcement in support of Earth Day on April 22, 1970. His sixth-grade class raised funds, and wrote and narrated the announcement broadcast on WCAU-AM Radio.

He was married for 57 years to Patricia Marie Russell Bell, who died in 2012.

Besides his son and daughter, he is survived by another son, Robert D. Jr.; three grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; a brother; and a nephew and a niece.

A visitation from noon to 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 20, will be followed by a 1 p.m. memorial service at Shannondell, Bradford Club House, 20000 Shannondell Dr., Audubon. Interment is private.

Contributions may be made to the West Chester University Foundation in support of the Bob Bell Memorial Scholarship. Checks should be payable to W.C.U. Foundation and designated in the memo field, "In memory of Bob Bell," and sent to the foundation at Box 541, West Chester, Pa. 19381.

bcook@phillynews.com

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