Art Bell passed away peacefully after a long and happy life on October 29, 2021. He was born in Toronto on August 25, 1924, to Edward Frederick Bell and Anna Gordon Meen.

Prior to completing high school, Art joined the R.C.N.V.R. and served from 1943 to 1945 primarily on convoy escort in the North Atlantic on a corvette, the H.M.C.S. Cobourg. His only sibling, Bruce Edwin Bell, died during the war in the crash of a Halifax bomber.
After being honourably discharged, Art completed high school, enrolled in the Bachelor of Physical and Health Education programme at the University of Toronto and graduated in 1949. In the same year, he married Joyce Brooks. The couple moved to Lindsay, Ontario where Art began his teaching career at Lindsay Collegiate Institute. He was a passionate and dedicated teacher of physical education, math and history. He and Joyce returned to Toronto where he taught at Weston Collegiate and Vocational School and Northview Heights Secondary School. He became Head of Physical and Health Education and, later, Vice Principal at Don Mills Collegiate Institute. He went on to serve as Principal at Westview Centennial Secondary School and C. W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute. He retired at the end of the school year in 1984 but kept up the many friendships made during his career with the North York Board of Education.

Art was very active as retirement approached and after. He played hockey into his 60’s and travelled extensively with Joyce. He was a member of Forest Grove United Church, the Toronto Rotary Club and the Canadian Forces Base. He was an avid reader and enjoyed sailing his Mirror class dinghy and other boats.

Most importantly, he was a committed and enthusiastic grandparent who was greatly loved by his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Joyce died in 1999 and he was devastated by her death. Long-time friend and companion, Marion Ashton, and her family were a wonderful source of support to him. Sadly, Marion passed away after they had been together for several years.
In 2007, Art moved into Claridges and became a welcome and involved member of the community. There he met Valentina Fournier. They were close friends until his passing.

Art was an affable and engaging man who loved being surrounded by people. Despite limited mobility and cognitive decline in his later years, he was grateful for every day of his life. He was blessed with three wonderful caregivers, Sereka, Shannon and Anga, and affectionate and attentive staff at Amica and Claridges. Dr. Sidney Feldman provided him with superb medical care for decades.
Left to mourn him are his family whom he loved: his children, Andrew (Rita), Ian (Moira) and Janet (Andre), his grandchildren, Colin (Elizabeth), Eric (Natalie), Mathew (Natalie), Carolyn (Jim), Hilary and Simon and his great-grandchildren, Olivia, Noah and William.

A Visitation and Funeral Service will be held at York Cemetery, 160 Beecroft Road, North York, Ontario on Saturday, November 20th from 1:00 pm—3:00 pm (Service to begin at 2:00 pm).

Masks, proof of full vaccination status, along with government issued ID are required for those 12 years of age and older in order to attend the indoor funeral services. Please leave time prior to the service to check-in.

For those who wish to view the services remotely, please look for the live link at the top of the page at 1 pm on November 20th.

In lieu of flowers, a donation to a charity of your choice would be appreciated.

To watch the slideshow tribute, please copy and paste this link into your preferred web browser: https://youtu.be/tsyxrt4U_3o