THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 11, 1994 TAG: 9410110228
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B04 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: ALEXANDRIA LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
William Hersey Bell, a Virginia college and high school football star and coach, who became vice president of Capital Cigar & Tobacco Co., Inc., died at his home of heart failure.
At 89, he was the oldest living alumnus who attended Randolph-Macon College reunions.
Born in Franklin, Mr. Bell was chosen an All-State end in 1921, after three years on the Courtland High School football team.
At Courtland High, Mr. Bell lettered in football, baseball and basketball in all four years. In 1921, he entered Randolph-Macon College, where he played all three sports and was elected football captain his senior year.
Mr. Bell graduated in 1925 with an A.B. degree. He belonged to Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity and in both his junior and senior years, he played every minute of every football game.
An active member of the Literary Society, Mr. Bell served as captain of the basketball team his junior year. He also played on the 1925 baseball team.
After graduation, Mr. Bell served for two years as head athletic coach at Crewe High School.
In 1927 he came to McGuire's University School in Richmond as head athletic coach and as a teacher of math and science. McGuire's a college preparatory school for boys, was founded in 1865 and closed in 1942. Its alumni include Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. of the U.S. Supreme Court.
As head coach at McGuire's, Mr. Bell's footballs won the city prep football championship in 1931 and tied for the championship in 1927.
Mr. Bell left McGuire's after eight years to take a job at Larus Brothers Tobacco Company in Richmond.
During World War II he served in the U.S. Navy as a lieutenant. Mr. Bell received his officer training at Princeton University.
Except for his Navy service, Mr. Bell worked from 1940 until 1975 at Capital Cigar and Tobacco Company Inc., a Washington, D.C., regional wholesaler. He retired as Vice President.
A lifelong athlete, Mr. Bell played tennis until age 83. From 1942 until his death, he was a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Alexandria, where he also served on the church vestry.
Survivors include his wife of 59 years, Jean Watson Bell; three daughters, Barclay Bell Nakhleh of Abu, Dhabi, Julia Parker Bell of West Newton, Mass., and Virginia Bell Beck of McLean; six grandchildren, William Ziad Nakhleh, Samir Ziad Nakhleh, Barclay Latane Beck, Edward Catesby Beck, Anne Henley Beck and Elizabeth Tarleton Cowen; and one great-grandchild, Ziad William Nakhleh.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 12, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church. A graveside service will be held in Goochland at 1 p.m. Oct. 13 at Grace Episcopal Church Cemetery.
KEYWORDS: DEATH OBITUARY
by CNB