Louise (Turley) Bell

Louise Turley Bell (Lou) of Cut Bank, Montana, died peacefully of natural causes on Saturday, June 25 ^th . Family and friends are comforted to know that she is now in the loving arms of our Lord and Savior, free of the discomfort and physical limitations that constrained her in this world. Her body is at rest now and her soul is free. In the weeks preceding her death she was blessed with visits from many family members who traveled to spend time with her.

Lou was born on April 8, 1927 in a log cabin in the Bull Mountains near Musselshell, Montana, the oldest of five children raised by John and Minnie Turley on their family ranch. The luxuries of electricity, running water, central heating, and indoor toilets were not yet available. There she enjoyed a childhood that included going to school in a one-room school house, playing with her brothers and sisters in the hills, and helping with the endless ranch chores. Her favorite chores were those that required riding horseback. As a young girl she loved to ride out to each stock tank and read a book while it filled. John Turley had only finished eighth grade and insisted that his children complete their educations. After graduating from the one-room school house she lived with relatives and started high school in Shepherd. Then she and her younger sister Edythe lived together and attended high school in Roundup for two years.

After graduating from high school at the age of 17 Lou attended Montana State College in Bozeman, where in 1948 she earned her degree in Secretarial Sciences. She was a proud lifelong Bobcat booster along with the rest of her family; all of her siblings and children, and numerous nephews, nieces, and grandchildren attended MSU. Lou proudly received her Golden diploma from MSU in 1998 and Diamond diploma in 2008. Perhaps more importantly MSC is where she met Jack Bell, who would become her husband and the love of the rest her life. As Jack liked to tell the story, he was stricken by her beauty when he first saw her brown eyes through the steam rising from a bowl of Spanish rice she had just served at the Women’s Co-op, where she lived and worked part time! He had just ended his service in the Army Air Corps and was attending MSC, where he had joined the Sigma Chi fraternity, located next to the Women’s Co-op. Lou married Jack in Musselshell in 1948 and moved to Cut Bank, where Jack operated the Bell Chevrolet Company car dealership with his father Hurb Bell. In the ensuing years Lou and Jack raised a family of five children and expanded the car dealership into what is now Bell Motor Company.

Lou was actively involved in the community for many years, including P.E.O., American Legion, Republican Party politics, and the First Presbyterian Church, for which she served as a deacon, elder, and lifelong benefactor. She supported her children by serving as a leader in Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and was an enthusiastic fan at all of their sporting events, from Little League to high school football and basketball. Lou and Jack imparted a love of the outdoors to their children through camping, fishing, and hunting trips. One of the family favorites was the annual hunting trip back to the Turley family ranch in the Bull Mountains, where three generations of Turleys and Bells gathered to enjoy time together in the beautiful Ponderosa Pine country.

In their retirement years Jack and Lou found time to travel more, whether to visit children and grandchildren, or to satisfy one of Jack’s wanderlusts. While not always an enthusiastic participant, she willingly went along on whatever adventures Jack instigated, from cross country skiing in Essex to scuba diving in Mexico. She could always read a book if she didn’t want to join in! Their youngest son Peter was a private pilot and aircraft mechanic whose dream was to become a full time flying missionary serving needy villages in southern Mexico. Following his death in an airplane accident, Lou and Jack devoted time and money to supporting those missions, and Lou helped lead a group of teenagers from the Presbyterian Church on a mission trip to Mexico. The rigors of her adventures with Jack had prepared her well for such challenges as sleeping on concrete floors! Lou loved to dance and we have fond memories of her cutting a rug at weddings and dancing to the music of the Big Sky Brass at the Bigfork Inn. Once she started tapping her toe on the floor it wasn’t long before Jack, a son, or a nephew had her out on the dance floor.

Jack’s death in 1995 ended one chapter in Lou’s life and opened another. She never completely filled the void he left, but over time she found happiness spending time with her family and summers at her home in Bigfork, Montana. Memorable trips included those with her two sisters Edythe and Mary and Edythe’s husband John to Ireland, Canada, Panama, and Hawaii, and a cruise on the Columbia River with her sister Mary.

In 2009 Lou moved to Great Falls, Montana where her daughter Marsha Costello and husband Mark could best help her following a major stroke. Since that time she has been blessed by Marsha’s constant devotion and presence in her life, and by her son Dave Bell, who has managed her affairs.

Lou was a wonderful wife, mother, sister, aunt, and grandmother. Her life has been one of devotion and love for her family, leadership and service to her church and community, and a ready smile for friends and strangers alike. Her children are blessed to have had the stable, loving family upbringing she provided. She is a role model for us and others who knew her.

Lou is survived by her sister Mary Cooley; sisters-in-law Faye Turley and Madelyn Turley; her aunt Willy Burton; children Steve Bell (Susan), Stan Bell (Cheri), Marsha Costello (Mark), and Dave Bell; daughter-in-law Kimberly Ten Pas Bell; grandchildren Jackson Bell, Ashley Bell, Lauren Czirr, Caroline Bell, Grady and Jordan Costello, Jeremiah Bell, David Bell; and great grandchildren Isabella and Adeline Wierda. She was preceded in death by her husband Jack Bell; brothers John and Martin Turley and sister Edythe McCleary; and her son Peter Bell.

For those wishing to honor Lou with a memoriam the family requests that they be directed to the First Presbyterian Church of Cut Bank or a charity of their choice.