Class of 1968-J
Frances Louise Bell, 78, passed away Monday, February 15, 2016.
Frances was born in McKeesport, the first daughter of Louise (Boss) and John J. Wolf, on November 23, 1937. She was a graduate of McKeesport High School, Class of 1955. She earned her nursing degree from St. Francis School of Nursing in Pittsburgh and served the McKeesport Hospital community for almost ten years.
In 1979, Frances and her family relocated to Schererville, Indiana. She worked the remainder of her 33-year nursing career at St. Anthony Hospital in Crown Point, IN, serving in both nursing and administrative roles. During those years, she also completed a BS degree from St. Francis University in Joliet, IL.
Frances lived her life being faithful to her commitments, witnessing her faith and caring well for her family. She was first and foremost a devoted daughter, mother and grandmother. Her sons, Chip and John, meant the world to her, and she was incredibly proud of them. Frances was a remarkably caring and compassionate person. This was evident not only in her skill and practice as a nurse, but in every aspect of her life. She listened with her heart and treasured the moments she shared with people who mattered. She remembered and kept her promises. Frances wrote long letters, did beautiful needlework, remembered birthdays and loved long walks on the beach. She enjoyed traveling and loved her dogs. Frances took her grandsons to Sunday School and decorated her home with their artwork. Many were the long drives she made with a car full of little boys to spend time with her mother and sister in Pennsylvania, or to the beach for summer vacations and visits with her aunt and cousin.
Frances retired in 2003 and spent the next three years enjoying her days caring for and playing with Jacob, the youngest of her grandsons. Following a disabling accident in 2007, Frances became a patient and resident of Wittenberg Lutheran Home where she died peacefully, with her family by her side. Frances is survived by sons: John (Angela) of Crown Point, Chip (Chris) of Schererville; six grandsons; three great-grandchildren; one sister, Carol Wisser of White Oak.
Service and visitation were held at Pruzin & Little Funeral Service, Crown Point, on Thursday, February 18, 2016. She will then be taken to her birthplace and laid to rest in McKeesport, where friends are welcome Saturday, February 20 from 9:30 to 11:30 am at the Gilbert Funeral Home and Crematory, Inc., 6028 Smithfield Street, Boston, Elizabeth Township. Funeral Service will be held in the funeral home chapel at 11:30 pm, with The Rev. James Decker, officiating. Interment will follow at McKeesport-Versailles Cemetery.