Rosa Lee Bell

On the morning of September 24, 2002, ROSA LEE BROWN was touched gently by an angel of mercy and quietly led into the heavenly realm of eternal peace, rest and joy. Rosa Lee was the sixth child of eleven born to the late Willie and Annliza Jordan in Enfield, North Carolina. Although, she attended the public schools of Halifax County, North Carolina, she was able to complete only the third grade. Rosa Lee grew up during a time when schooling for a sharecropper’s family took a back seat to putting in the crop. That lack of opportunity caused her to understand the importance of education and opportunity, which she would instill in, and continually keep before her children.On November 1, 1937, Rosa Lee was united in Holy Matrimony to Thomas Bell, who died in 1976. From this union were born Ellison, Joe Louis, Robert Mack and Willie Edward, all of whom she cherished. Indeed, to her, family was the greatest gift. Ellison and Willie Edward preceded her in death; Ellison’s, because he was her first born, occurred almost five years ago and affected her quite deeply.She moved to Baltimore in 1946, with her boys, seeking the opportunity she did not have in North Carolina and to provide greater opportunity for Ellison, Joe and Mack. Rosa Lee knew instinctively the value of education and, so, insisted on their finishing high school and they did. And, although she moved to Brooklyn when her youngest son finished high school, she continued to encourage them to seek and take advantage of any opportunities for success that might present themselves. She was proud of every one of her sons’ accomplishments and was always there to celebrate them. She was never more proud than when one of her sons became a judge and later Chief Judge of Maryland’s highest court. Nevertheless, Rosa Lee was always the mother, demanding and teaching respect.Rosa Lee’s religious life was nurtured at an early age when she was baptized at First Baptist Church in Enfield, North Carolina. In Baltimore, she attended Faith Baptist Church with her sons, and a host of other churches, leaning toward the Pentecostal. Upon moving to Brooklyn, New York in 1961, she joined St. John Baptist on Fulton Avenue. As a result of her commitment to her faith and her life-long belief in the value of education, she taught herself to read, achieving an 8th grade equivalency.Having worked in various service-related jobs throughout her life, Rosa Lee Bell was employed as a Home Health Care Practitioner by Bragg Home Health Care Services of Brooklyn, New York until her retirement in 1997.“Ma,” as she was affectionately called, leaves to cherish her memory: two sons, Joe Louis and Robert Mack; ten grandchildren, Denise, Scharbette, Jo Ann, Robin, Toni, Robert, Glenn, Sharon, Thomasena and Ellison, Jr.; two sisters’ Annie Lou (Della) Pittman of Newport News, Virginia and Mamie Gunther of Scotland Neck, North Carolina; one daughter-in-law, Jean Napoleon Bell: two sisters-in-law, Fannie Bell of Rocky Mount, North Carolina and Ethel Mae Jordan of Baltimore, Maryland; goddaughter Viola Lawson; twenty-one great grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren; and a host of nieces, nephews, family and friends.

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Rosa Lee Bell

April 18, 1918 - September 23, 2002