Alexander Graham Bell, Sr.

Alexander Graham Bell, Sr., 99, of Jefferson City, died Tuesday, December 26, 2017, at Villa Marie Skilled Nursing Facility. He was born on October 23, 1918, in Marianna, Arkansas, the son of the late Rev. James Rupert Bell and Sarah Jane Rupbert Bell. He was married on January 11, 1942, in Kansas City, Missouri, to Carrie Belle Taylor who preceded him in death on October 9, 1991. He was married on July 6, 2000, in Las Vegas, Nevada, to Ruby Jane McBride Pemberton who preceded him in death on July 23, 2006. Mr. Bell was a 1940 graduate of O'Banner High School in New Madrid, Missouri, and attended Western Seminary in Kansas City and Lincoln University in Jefferson City. In earlier years he was employed in maintenance with Washington School and Lincoln University Library, and later served as a warehouse clerk with the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department from 1955 to 1982. He was a licensed funeral director with the former Dulle Funeral Home from 1966 to 1995, and with Dulle-Trimble Funeral Home from 1995 until his retirement in 2010. He served as a doorman at the Missouri House of Representatives for twenty-three years. Highly respected in the African American community, Mr. Bell was a member of Second Baptist Church for sixty-seven years where he served as Deacon, Trustee, Sunday School teacher, and Scout Master of Boy Scout Troop 15 troop. He was a Past Worshipful Master of Capitol City Lodge No. 9, Free & Accepted Masons, and was a 32nd degree member of Queen City Scottish Rite Bodies in St. Louis, Missouri. He was a director of Baptist Training Union, Board Chairman of Boy Scout Troop 115, member of the Order of the Arrow, and served on the board of directors of Longview Cemetery and the former Hospice of Jefferson City & Mid-Missouri. Survivors include four children, Ruby (Ivy) Smith, St. Louis, Missouri; Alexander G. (Patricia) Bell, Jr., Chesapeake, Virginia; Ruth Arthur, Atlanta, Georgia; and Joseph (Patricia) Bell, Indianapolis, Indiana; one step-son, Michael B. (Peggy) Pemberton; eleven grandchildren; ten great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; and two sisters, Lula Davis and Rosie Hurt, both of Peoria, Illinois; and a host of nieces, nephews, and friends who will all miss him. He was preceded in death by one daughter, Joann Hare; eight brothers, C.D., Michael, Henry, Nick, Virgil, George, James Jr., and Robert Lee Bell; and five sisters, Ethel Smith, Esther Ellis, Helen Purvis, Bea Cook, and Ruth Franklin. Funeral services will be 12 noon on Tuesday, January 2, 2018, at Second Baptist Church with the Rev. Cornell C. Sudduth officiating. Burial will be in Longview Cemetery. Visitation will be 10-11:30 a.m. Tuesday, January 2nd, at the church, with Masonic Rites conducted by Capitol City Lodge No. 9, Free & Accepted Masons, at 11:30 a.m. Memorials are suggested to Second Baptist Church, 501 Monroe Street, Jefferson City, MO 65101.