Donald A. Bell

Donald A Bell of Reynoldsburg, Ohio passed away on April 1, 2024, peacefully at home. He was born in Columbus, Ohio on August 27, 1931.  The son of Benjamin A and Clara Jen Hatfield Bell.  He is preceded in death by his parents, brother Victor and is wonderful wife, Mary, of 58 years.  He is survived by his children, son Steven Bell and daughter Tracy Bell-Hughes (Paul Hughes) both of Columbus.  

He grew up in Powell, Ohio, where his mother ran the store on the corner, and graduated Powell High School, class of 1949, where he played in the band and played all sports.

He received a BA from Otterbein College in 1958 where he was a member of ETA PHI MU and Cap and Dagger.  He also appeared in several plays.  He received an MA in Broadcast Education from The Ohio State University.  He also attended Capital University and Boston University.  He was a Jennings Scholar.  He retired from Whitehall City Schools after almost 34 years, where he taught English for several years; became the audio-visual director and finally the director of Instructional Technology.  He built WYHS-TV, one of the first high school TV studios in Central OH at Whitehall where he taught TV production for 17 years.  He served in the US Air Force during the Korean War as an airborne radar technician.  He was assistant line chief in the radar section at Ellington AFB where he also played on the base softball team and was athletic NCO of the 3605th A&E Maintenance Squadron.  He organized several reunions with his old Air Force buddies.  He also wrote the AFB newsletters for years, and they are now archived at Rice University in Houston, Texas. He loved bowling and golf and was thinking about turning pro because he would never make it as an amateur. He was on the first fire department in Powell, belonged to the Ohio Retired Teachers Association, American Legion Post 0798 of Reynoldsburg and was past president of the Powell Alumni.  He was also a member of the Powell Liberty Historical Society, Reynoldsburg Senior Center, the Historical Aircraft Squadron of the Fairfield County Airport, where he was museum curator, and Reynoldsburg Community Church. 

A memorial service will be held in his honor on Friday, April 12, at 3:00 p.m. at Cotner Funeral Home, 7369 East Main Street, Reynoldsburg, where his family will receive friends from 2-3:00.

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