Ernest L. Bell III

KEENE -- Ernest L. "Tutt" Bell III, 83, a retired attorney and prominent citizen of Keene, died Nov. 6, 2009, at his home after a brief illness.

He was born in Boston, June 12, 1926, to Ellamay Rose (Currier) and Ernest L. Bell Jr. He grew up in Keene and attended Vermont Academy. He graduated cum laude from Harvard College in 1949, and earned his law degree at the University of Michigan in 1952.

During World War II, and before attending Harvard, Mr. Bell served in England with the Military Intelligence Service's German Military Reports Branch (GMRB). He was the youngest member of the unit, which briefed the highest-ranking U.S. officials, including the President, on ultra-secret material obtained by intercepting and decoding German communications at Bletchley Park near London.

His service there evolved into a lifetime interest in the subject. He reconstructed the mission through an exhaustive right-to-know campaign that culminated in his publishing "An Initial View of Ultra as an American Weapon" in 1977.

He was admitted to the New Hampshire Bar in 1952, and before his retirement from private practice in 2003, he argued more than 50 cases before the New Hampshire Supreme Court. He employed the first woman lawyer in Keene.

IN HIS LIFE: He was also a strong advocate of pro bono work, in which lawyers represent clients without pay. He was admitted to practice in the federal district courts of New Hampshire and Vermont, the First Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

He was very active in the New Hampshire Bar Association, serving a term as president and twice earning its Distinguished Service Award. He had also been a president of the Cheshire County Bar Association and chairman of the New Hampshire Bar Foundation.

Mr. Bell had an unusually wide range of interests. In 2008, he co-authored "Wings Over Keene," a history of Keene's airport. He owned and flew his own aircraft for many years and chaired the city of Keene Airport Advisory Commission. He was a founding member of the Lawyer-Pilots Association. He was active in the Boy Scouts of America, having joined the Scouts as a boy in Keene , and later serving on the executive board of the Daniel Webster Council for many years. He received the Boy Scouts' Silver Beaver Award for Distinguished Service to Youth. In 2000, a Boy Scout camp in Gilmanton Iron Works was named in his honor.

Mr. Bell had a passion for photography and was often seen with a camera. He was a member of the Monadnock Photographers Guild and was especially adept at nature photography. History was another interest. He collected antique New Hampshire maps and had an extensive collection of books and material on World War II, which he donated to the Virginia Military Institute.

Dogs had been part of his life since he was a child. With his parents, he co-founded the Cheshire Kennel Club, and he later showed boxers and standard schnauzers. He served on the executive committee of the Eastern Dog Club.

Mr. Bell had a lifelong interest in railroads and was an avid traveler. One of his most memorable trips took place in 1987, when he and his wife traveled by train from London through Russia and Mongolia on their way to China .

He was a director of the Connecticut River Bank and a longtime member of the Lions Club. He also served on the boards of the Historical Society of Cheshire County, the Society for Military History, the Horatio Colony House Museum, the Keene Public Library, and many other organizations too numerous to mention.

In private and in public life, he was known for his infectious laugh and keen sense of humor.

Survivors include his wife, Sally Leavitt Cheney Bell of Keene ; two daughters, Robin Elizabeth Bell of West Nyack N.Y. and Roseanne Currier of Mandeville, La.; a son, David Ernest Bell of Nyack , N.Y.; a brother, John Bell of Swanzey; four stepchildren, Dorothy Cheney of Devon, Pa., Margaret Cheney of Norwich, Vt. ; Drew Cheney of Cumberland, Maine , and Thomas Cheney of Cary, N.C.; five grandchildren; and eight step-grandchildren.

His first wife, Margaret Van Nostrand Depue Bell, died in 1988.

SERVICES:Services will be held Saturday, Nov. 21, at 11 a.m. at St. James Episcopal Church in Keene. A reception will follow at the St. George Greek Orthodox Church Hall.

Foley Funeral Home of Keene is in charge of arrangements.

The family has asked that, in lieu of flowers, contributions be made in Mr. Bell's memory to the Historical Society of Cheshire County or the Margaret Bell Scholarship Fund of the Monadnock Humane Society.