Sheila June Bell

Thank you all for coming to commemorate our mother’s life. Many of you here today knew our mother personally and many of you knew her indirectly through one of her family members. You may have known her as a friend or a support person. Of course, all of our mother’s family here today each knew a part of her, a facet of her, as a wife, mother, daughter, grandmother, sister, aunt, niece or a cousin. We of course knew her as our mother. As we have reached adulthood, we have also known her as a friend. Our mother shared much of herself with us, and we saw sides of our mother as she struggled with her illnesses that we had never seen before, especially her strong belief in positive thinking and the importance of the quality of life. As a parent and friend, our mother had an extraordinary ability to make each of us feel stronger and more confident in our own identity, giving us our own sense of independence and mental toughness which has been such an asset in so many ways in our lives. We will embrace the memories and continue to make our mother proud by living our best lives because she gave us the tools to do just that. In sharing the joy and the pain together today, may we lessen the pain and remember more clearly the joy.  

Sheila June Bell, affectionately known to her family and close friends as “Wiggy” was born on April 20, 1944 in Clarendon, Jamaica. She passed away peacefully on Valentine Day, February 14, 2024 in Florida surrounded by Love. Sheila was only 79 years of age.  She was a devoted mother, grandmother, and sister who graced everyone with her smile and humility. She had a “passion for fashion” and was an exceptional self-taught seamstress. Sheila designed well-tailored pieces for her family and friends; she was talented beyond her years starting at the tender age of 15. 

Sheila migrated to the United States in the late 1960s, to Chicago, Illinois where she joined her mother and sister, initially, later followed by her remaining siblings. Sheila brought her sewing talents with her and worked as a seamstress for two manufacturing companies:  Howard Maternity Manufacturing and Lee’s Manufacturing making airplane armrest coverings. She then worked as a domestic helper and at M&M Mars where she met her husband James Franklin Bell; they had three children.   

Sheila is survived by her three children: Natasha Bell, Nicole Cary (Tors), and Maurice Bell; her three grandchildren: Mikayla Sanford, Koby Bell, and Melah Bell; her siblings: Joan King, Kay Adams, Howard Francis (twin brother), Jewel Golden and Oona Jackson; as well as many of her nieces/nephews, cousins, and extended Florida family and friends. Sheila preceded her parents; Merriman & Edna May Francis, and her husband James Franklin Bell.  

Sheila will be remembered for her flare for fashion, her afro, big or small, her laugh, her infectious smile, and her fervor for life and all its opportunity. We love you Sheila.

A memorial for Sheila will be held in the spring of 2025 and we will notify all friends and family.