William E. Bell, age 84 of Shippenville, went to be with His Lord and Savior on Monday morning, June 27, 2016 at UPMC Northwest at Seneca, following an illness.

    Born April 2, 1932 in Franklin, he was a son of the late Winfield Scott Bell and Edith Ethel Tingley Bell.   He was a graduate of the Ashland Township High School in Clarion County and attended Anderson College of Anderson, Indiana.

    He married the former Joanne C. Etzel on December 26, 1952 and she survives.

    Bill worked in accounting and bookkeeping.  He retired from Rockland Township in 2014 and had previously worked for Terry W. Kahle of Knox.

   He was a lifetime member of the Grace Evangelical Congregational Church in Ninevah, where he served on the church board, acted as a Lay Delegate, youth leader and mentor, taught Sunday School and sang in the church choir.

    Bill and Joanne loved to travel, visiting every state in the continental United States. He enjoyed sharing his love for the Lord with others, hunting, cutting wood, singing duets with his wife and spending time with his family

    In addition to his wife, he is survived by two sons:  Timothy Bell and his wife, Nancy and Raymond Bell and his wife, Sandy, all of Shippenville; two daughters:  Christine Heilman and her husband, Ellis of Shippenville and Pamela Pritchard and her husband, Mark, of Cranberry; 29 grandchildren, including their spouses and 35 great grandchildren.

   Bill is also survived by two brothers and a sister:  Dan Bell and wife, Cindy; Tom Bell and wife, Theresa and Theora Bell, all of Indiana.

   In addition to his parents, Bill was preceded in death by a brother and two grandsons.

    Family and friends will be received from 2-4 and 6-8 p.m. Friday, July 1, 2016 at the William N. Rupert Mortuary, Inc., 430 Mendenhall Avenue, Knox and from 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday, July 2, 2016 at the Grace E.C. Church, 2561 Grace Church Road, Knox.

  Services will be held in the church at 11:00 a.m. Saturday with Reverend Tim Bell, Reverend Joel Bell and Reverend Nick Errico, son, grandson and grandson-in-law respectively, officiating over the services.

    Interment will follow at the Starr Cemetery in Ninevah, Ashland Township, Clarion County.

   Memorial contributions may be given in the name of William E. Bell to the Grace E.C. Church, 2561 Grace Church Road, Knox, PA  16232

    Online condolences may be sent to Bill’s family at www.rupertfuneralhomes.com

 Service Information