Our beloved Pastor of 33 years, Wallace “Wally” A. Bell, went to be with the Lord on Saturday, June 1. He was 91.
A public memorial service was held at Puritan Reformed Presbyterian Church (previously the Puritan Evangelical Church of America), where Pastor Bell served as our minister from 1966 to 1999, on Saturday, June 22, 2024, at 10 a.m. A video recording of the service, including testimonials, can be viewed here on YouTube. An mp3 audio file only can be listened to or downloaded (the video can also be viewed and downloaded) here on SermonAudio.
In grateful praise to God for Pastor Bell’s 33 years of faithful ministry to our church, we have named our library (with its several thousand volumes mostly consisting of his personal donations) and acknowledged it with a picture and signage as the “Wallace A. Bell Library.”
Pastor Bell’s wife, Catherine “Kay” (Morrow) Bell, who served with him during his entire ministry, died in 2012. He is survived by his son, Dr. Paul Bell, DDS, daughter Sharon Bell Kunkle, daughter-in-law Jennifer Lynn Bell, M.Ed., and son-in-law Greg Kunkle, M.A. HR; grandchildren, Tabitha Kay Bell, MSW, Dr. Hannah Bell Rebernick, Ph.D, and her husband, Ryan Rebernick, Evan James Bell Kunkle, and Caitlin Nair, M.Ed., and her husband, Raj Nair; and great grand children, Levi Nair and Ezekiel Nair.
Born January 24, 1933, in Belfast, Ireland, Wally was discovered while sharing the gospel as a lay speaker for a youth evangelism event and immediately sponsored and sent in 1958 to train for the ministry at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago where he earned his degree in pastoral care. Originally ordained in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and first installed as a pastor in Bend, Oregon, he was again discovered while teaching at one of the denomination’s summer family camps by a PRPC search committee member in attendance who invited him to candidate. Pastor Bell was soon called and installed as our next minister.
Wally had been brought to the emergency room June 1 to address some symptoms likely related to the cancer he had endured for several years. Nearly about to leave for home, he asked the nurse for a glass of water. When the nurse returned, he had already died.
“Dad was discharged from ER straight into heaven,” said his son, Paul Bell. Pastor Bell had asked for these personal words to be shared at the service: “Praise the Sovereign God of Sovereign Grace!”
As Pastor Bell was a staunch defender of the King James Version of the Bible and the Greek Textus Receptus, in lieu of flowers, please send donations in honor of Wallace A. Bell to the Memorial Fund of the Trinitarian Bible Society:
Online at tbsbibles.org
Via the phone at (616) 735-3695
Or mail a check with “Wallace A. Bell Memorial” in the memo line to:
Trinitarian Bible Society (USA)
927 Alpine Commerce Park, Suite 100
Grand Rapids, MI 49544
Please Leave a Comment to Honor Bell/Express Your Condolences to the Family at the end of this page.
OTHER RESOURCES:
Click Here to read a full feature obituary news release.
Click Here to see the obituary at Eternal Hills Memorial Park in Oceanside where you can leave a comment for the family.
Click Here to view the memorial service bulletin (printed copies will be available for attendees).
Click Here to view a 13-minute slideshow video of photos Pastor Bell’s life and ministry shared by family and friends (with the singing of acapellla Psalmody playing in the background).
Click Here to view photos that will be shared in a slide show before and after the memorial service (the slide show will be shared here via a link on our YouTube page later on after the service).
Click Here to study pdf files of Pastor Bell’s well known instructions on personal evangelism. To listen to his sermon on personal evangelism, click here.
PASTOR BELL’S SERMONS BEING CONVERTED FROM AUDIO CASSETTE TO MP3 FILES ONLINE:
To listen to some of Pastor Bell’s sermons converted from audio cassettes to MP3 files, visit sermonaudio.com/puritanchurch and select him as the speaker through the “Sermons” tab and “Filter” box—or, for a direct link, go to https://rb.gy/q9mibg. If you would like to contribute to more of his approximately eight thousand messages preached here over 33 years being professionally and quickly converted and uploaded, please visit https://give.cornerstone.cc/puritanchurch and choose “Cassette Conversion of Pastor Bell’s Messages” in the “Designation” drop down box. Or, make out a check to PRPC and send it to us noting “Pastor Bell’s Tapes” in the memo line. For more information on this project, visit https://puritanchurch.com/pastor-wallace-a-bell-30-years-of-sermons-going-from-cassettes-to-sermonaudio-mp3s.
I’m sorry for your loss.