Pastor Richard Bell With the Lord

Pastor Dan Pritchett of Hagerstown, Md., has informed us that Richard Bell, pastor of Apple Valley Community Church in Winchester, Virginia, went home to be with his Savior yesterday (Sunday) around 6:15 pm. Bell, whose father-in-law was the late Ralph Hall, has been battling a rare form of leukemia for several years.

Richard Bell Obituary

Rev. Richard Eugene Bell, 62, of Winchester, Virginia, died Sunday, September 19, 2010, in the Blue Ridge Hospice Residential Center.

Rev. Bell was born October 1, 1947, in Cumberland, Maryland, the son of Oscar Nimrod and Dorothy Viola Daniels Bell.

Rev. Bell graduated from North Hagerstown High School in 1965. He attended LeTourneau College in Longview, Texas, from 1965-66 and graduated from Grace College in Winona Lake, Indiana, in 1969 and in 1973 graduated from Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, Indiana.

Rev. Bell dedicated his life to serving the Lord as a pastor, faithfully teaching God’s Word for 36 years in Grace Brethren Churches in Ft. Wayne, Indiana; Kokomo, Indiana; Dallas Center, Iowa; Akron, Ohio; and Winchester, Virginia. Since 1998 he pastored the Apple Valley Community Church in Winchester.

From 1986-1998, while pastoring Grace Brethren Church, he produced a weekly ½ hour radio program on WINC-FM where he challenged people to apply biblical principles to their everyday live. From 2001-2006 he thoroughly enjoyed teaching religion, ethics, and philosophy as an adjunct professor at Lord Fairfax Community College in Middletown, Virginia.

He married Nancy Elaine Hall Bell on June 12, 1970, in Winona Lake, Indiana.

Surviving with his wife are a daughter, Deborah Joy Bell of Winchester, VA; a son, David Jonathan Bell of Winchester, VA; and a sister, Janet Marie Bell Ott of Franklin, TN. A brother, William Bell preceded him in death.

A funeral service will be held 2 p.m. Wednesday, September 22, 2010, at the Enders & Shirley Funeral Home Chapel, Berryville, Virginia, with Rev. Dan Pritchett officiating. Burial will be 2 p.m. Thursday, September 23, 2010, in Rest Haven Cemetery, Hagerstown, MD.

To view the obituary or sign the online register, please visit www.endersandshirley.com.