Wayne C. Bell 1924-2012

BELL FALB WITTE

Posted By: Connie Swearingen-Volunteer (email)
Date: 5/24/2012 at 22:01:41

Sioux City Journal
May 19, 2012

SIOUX CITY | Wayne C. Bell, 87, of Sioux City, died Thursday, May 17, 2012, at a Sioux City hospital.

Services will be 2 p.m. today in St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. The Rev. Kenneth Hsu will officiate. Burial will be in Logan Park Cemetery at a later date. Visitation will be noon until service time today at the church. Arrangements are under the direction of Larkin Chapel, Christy-Smith Funeral Home.

Wayne was born on July 4, 1924, in West Bend, Iowa, the son Elmer and Lillian (Falb) Bell. He was raised on a farm in the West Bend area and graduated from Whittemore High School in Whittemore, Iowa, in 1940. He served as a U.S. Army Corpsman during World War II.

He married Arlene M. Witte on Dec. 14, 1951, in Estherville, Iowa. They lived in several locations in north central Iowa over the years. He worked for International Harvester, Fullerton Lumber Co., Arthur Lumber Co. and managed a hotel in Cherokee, Iowa. They moved to Sioux City in 1975, where he worked for Payless Lumber Yard until he retired in 1988. He then worked part-time for Big A Auto Parts. He also did volunteer work for Habitat for Humanity. Arlene died on June 18, 2008, in Sioux City.

He was a member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. He was a master gardener and was a big fan of the N.B.A. While he was working, he was very active in the local community groups.

He is survived by five children, Wayne and Rebecca of Kearney, Neb., Rebecca Bell of Mankato, Minn., Charles and Shelba of Rockwall, Texas, Laurie and Jeff Baldwin of Sioux City, and Nancy and John Bierschwale of Centennial, Colo.; 11 grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; two sisters, Norma Siegler of Red Oak, Iowa, and Maxine and George Frost of Rogers, Ark.; his brother, Dale and Donna of West Bend, Iowa; many nieces and nephews; and all the people in his neighbor who were like an extended family to him.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife; and two sisters, Phyllis Kunze and Ruth Skalicky.

A memorial has been established in his name.