Anne Welch Bell, 74, a long-time resident of Daviess County, passed away Saturday, June 11 at Bishop Spencer Place in Kansas City.
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Anne was born in Lathrop to Hugh David Welch and Anna Rachael Means Welch. A rambunctious little girl with pigtails and big brown eyes, she loved the outdoors and animals, especially cats.
Anne was a natural artist and a gifted soprano with professional potential. She graduated in 1955 from Cameron High, where she was crowned homecoming queen. She then worked as an artist at Hallmark before rediscovering her brother’s best friend Bob, a handsome sailor home from Korea. They married in 1956, and set to work making a magical home where little girls could learn to walk by pulling up on the fur of a patient spaniel, where Christmases were enchanted, and where food was a way of life.
Anne knew who she was. She rode horses, went fly-fishing, and loved to camp. She could create anything from prom dresses to the perfect pie crust to blueprints for her family’s home. She had a spit-fire personality with the gift of perseverance to match her bubbling spontaneity.
The most important thing in Anne’s life was loving her family, and she channeled her creativity into supplying their needs. Completely present in their lives, she was for her husband a soul-mate and for her daughters a living model of what they hoped to be.
Anne Bell is survived by daughters Barbara Goebel (Tim) of Winston and Rebecca Bell (Larry Martin) of Kansas City; brothers Hugh David Welch, Jr. (Ludene) of St. Joseph and John Franklin Welch (Doris) of Modesto, Illinois; granddaughters Hannah Goebel of Winston and Cricket Martin of Kansas City; nephews and nieces Mitch, Stan, Chad, Debra, John, David and Denise, as well as great-nieces and great-nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 52 years, Bobbie Lee Bell of Winston. Her career was spent working with Bob at Farmers Mutual Insurance of Gallatin.
Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, June 15 at 11 a.m. at the Poland-Thompson Funeral Home, 222 W. Third, Cameron, MO 64429 (816-632-2158), followed by burial at Graceland Cemetery. Visitation will be at the funeral home at 10 a.m. Online condolences: www.polandthompson.com.
Memorial donations may be sent to Grace Hospice, 9233 Ward Parkway, Suite 201, Kansas City, MO 64114.
Anne expressly wished, as her family does now, to thank Bishop Spencer Place and Grace Hospice for their loving care during her last two years.