It is with much sadness that we announce the passing of Reta Mae Bell on August 24, 2024.
Reta Mae loved Bracebridge where she was born and lived most of her life. She lived in the family home she grew up in. She seemed to know everyone in town! Many happy summer weeks were spent at Pioneer Camp in Port Sydney. She became a registered nurse at Hamilton General Hospital, working at Bracebridge Hospital and others. She taught Nursing at Georgian College in Orillia.
Reta Mae found her other calling when she became a Christ follower. Reta Mae led many Bible studies and gave her time to organizations such as Nurses Christian Fellowship, sharing her joy and security in God. She loved Muskoka, canoeing and her cottage in Port Carling.
Reta Mae will be sadly missed by Bert, her brother, Janet his wife, and Sean her nephew .
Love you, Reta Mae.
A memorial service will be held at the Salvation Army Church in Bracebridge at 1pm, September 9 with short reception to follow.
Donations are welcomed in lieu of flowers to Intervarsity Christian Fellowship of Canada; Pioneer Camp or to the Pines in Bracebridge.
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Martha Jackson says
Thank you, Marge, for posting this. Retamae was a lovely person. Whenever I saw her over the years, we just picked up where we had left off. She was always sincerely interested in how people were doing.
Retamae lived with her parents and brother Bert behind us for quite a few years. (We lived on Kimberley; the Bells on McMurray.)
There were no fences. There was a long-standing pedestrian right-of-way through people’s yards from McMurray, to Kimberley, then on through Ursi Deniss’ house on the other side of Kimberely, to the library on Manitoba Street. I think the path lasted until Irma Coyne bought the Kimberley Avenue property, and blocked it.
The Bells were very nice neighbours. Harvey Bell, Retamae’s father, and my mother, Alice (Ecclestone) Jackson, often called back and forth to each other when my mother was hanging clothes on the line in our back yard.
I think it’s safe to say most of my Ecclestone relatives knew Retamae; all liked her, and liked her family.