Obituary of Barbara Ann Bell
The family announces the death of BARBARA ANN BELL (formerly Tapley) on November 6th while in the Saint John Regional Palliative Care Unit in New Brunswick. Barbara was born in Moncton, NB, on March 5, 1938 to parents John and Ange (Keeley) Bell. She was educated at Saint John High School, Mt. Allison University and the NB Provincial Laboratories School of Medical Technology. She worked in hospital labs in Saint John, NB, and in Rockland and Rumford, ME. While raising two teenagers she returned to university as a 'non-traditional student' and earned her degree in Community Health Education summa cum laude from the University of Maine.
Barbara continued to work in healthcare establishing community and employee education programs at hospitals in Maine. She spent her final fourteen work years as the administrator of a hospice program serving the Augusta area. Barbara strove for excellence in all her programming and was highly respected by her peers, often serving as a referral source for hospice professionals from Alaska to New England. She was especially proud of being selected as "Maine Hospice Council's Volunteer of the Year" and president of the Maine Hospice Council Board of Directors.
In addition to her busy career and family life, Barbara also enjoyed travel, shopping, drinking coffee and wine with her Rumford girlfriends, as well as golf, cross country and downhill skiing, hiking (but not too steep), camping, gardening and trips to Rangely and Wood Island with her Maine friends. She also enjoyed time with her children. She was so proud of their accomplishments and never failed to show her love and support for them. Her three grandsons had a special place in her heart, and she enjoyed her visits with them.
Barbara was pre-deceased by her parents, her brother Jack Bell (Houston, TX) and sister Sandra Lee Leard (Saint John, NB). She is survived by her son Jeffrey Tapley of London, UK and Chatham, MA and her daughter Dr. Heather Tapley of Victoria, BC and Saint John, NB; her brother Brad Bell (Rothesay, NB and Qualicum BC); her grandsons Sam Tapley (Boston, MA), Mark Tapley (Quincy, MA), Chris Tapley (Tucson, AZ) and her niece Karie Leard (Saint John, NB). And she leaves many long-term friends throughout Maine and New Brunswick.
At her request, there will be no visitation nor funeral. Her ashes will be scattered in Maine at a later date. Also, at Barbara's request, donations to her memory should be sent to Volunteer Education Fund at Hospice Volunteers of Kennebec Valley-HealthReach Hospice, 150 Dresden Avenue, Gardiner, Maine 04345 and/or Bobby's Hospice, Hospice of Saint John, 385 Dufferin Row, Saint John, New Brunswick E2M 2J9.
