Born January 14, 1937 in Leonardtown MD, he was the son of Mary Catherine Sterling Bell and the late Thomas Webster Bell, Sr.
Tommy attended four years of high school at Mount St. Joseph in Baltimore Maryland, and completed his technical training at the General Motors Institute in Michigan. He served as General Service Manager of Bell Motor Company until the death of his father and uncle, at which time he became President and Co-Owner of Bell Motor Company with his brother and partner Frank Bell, Sr.
Tommy enjoyed playing and coaching softball, watching NASCAR and football games, boating, and spending time with family and friends. He was a Lifetime Member of the Leonardtown Volunteer Fire Department, a Charter Member of the Leonardtown Volunteer Rescue Squad, a member of the Leonardtown Lion?s Club, and a member of the Navy League.
With the passing of the President of Bell Motor Company, Tommy Bell, the family automobile business is entering into its fourth generation of Leonardtown ?Bell Brothers?. Bell Motor Company started approximately ninety years ago when in 1918 two brothers, T. Webster and J. Ernest Bell, opened a farm and appliance store in Pearson Maryland, which is now the site of the Patuxent River Naval Air Station.
With the foresight of growth and industry, the senior Bell Brothers began a Chevrolet franchise car dealership on January 17, 1923. Today, Bell Motor Company is the second oldest, continuously operated, Chevrolet automobile dealership in the world. Their first location in Leonardtown was a wooden garage next to the Duke Building at the top of ?Laundry Hill? on the south side of Fenwick Street. In 1939, when Tommy Bell was two years old, Webster and Ernest built their new car showroom on the corner of Washington Street and Park Avenue. Soon after they opened their Leonardtown office, Pearson Maryland and much of the land around it, was condemned by the United States government to make way for the Patuxent River Naval Air Station. After 1942, the Bells have focused their business in Leonardtown. Bell Motor?s philosophy has stayed the same since opening: ?People will go where they are invited, and stay where they are treated well?.
After more than 65 years of service, the original Bell Brothers, Ernest and Webster, died a little over six months apart in 1987 and 1988. The next generation of Bell Brothers, Tommy and Frank, officially assumed the ownership roles, with their mother?s guidance in the beginning of 1988. The second generation brothers have been working in the family dealership since adolescence. Both brothers attended and graduated from the General Motors Institute in Flint Michigan in 1957 and 1958 respectively. Tommy assumed the leadership role as General Service Manager of Bell Motor Company New Cars with his brother in charge of the Used Cars Sales and Service. Continuing the family?s dedication to service, the next generation of Bell Boys started working at Bell Motor Company and is currently the modern leadership of the proud family business. ?Pop Pop?, Webster Bell, passed on a wonderful and inspiring quote to his descendants: ?A strong Tree grows good fruit.? His words echo clearly through each generation of Bell?s.
Tommy and his wife were Co-Owners of Bell Boys Bus Service, which they inherited from her mother, Polly Gibson, in 1973.
He is survived by his wife, Dorothy Gibson and four children, Thomas W. ?T.W.? Bell, III and his wife, Mary J., Andrew Bell and his wife, Pamela, Gary Bell and his wife, Lisa, and Mark Bell and wife, Lotti, all of Leonardtown, MD, nine grandchildren, Gary Bell, Jr., Tiffany Bell and her fiancé, Christopher Corbett, A.J. Bell, Christopher Bell, Casie Bell, Brittany Bell, Stephanie Bell, Courtney Bell, and Bradley Bell, great-grandson, Trenton Corbett, and his siblings, Frank Bell Sr. and his wife, Diane, J. Ernest Bell II and his wife, Anne, and Katherine Atlas.
He was preceded in death by his son, Francis Gibson ?Franny? Bell and sister, Ruth Matilda Swann.
The family will receive friends on Tuesday, June 26, 2007 from 4-8:00 p.m. with prayers recited at 7:00 p.m. in St. Aloysius Catholic Church, Leonardtown, MD. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Wednesday, June 27, 2007 at 10:00 a.m. in the church. Reverend John Dakes will be the celebrant. Interment will follow in Queen of Peace, Helen, MD.
Serving as pallbearers will be his sons, T.W., Andy, Gary, and Mark Bell, and his grandsons, Gary Jr., A.J., and Christopher Bell. Serving as honorary pallbearers are the members of the Leonardtown Volunteer Fire Department.
Memorial contributions may be made to Leonardtown Volunteer Fire Department, P.O. Box 50, Leonardtown, MD 20650, Leonardtown Rescue Squad, P.O. Box 299, Leonardtown, MD 20650 or Hospice of St. Mary?s, P.O. Box 625, Leonardtown, MD 20650.
Arrangements by the Brinsfield Funeral Home, P.A. in Leonardtown, MD.
