JOYCE ELAINE KELL

BELL,
JOYCE ELAINE KELL, 83
After a prolonged illness, Joyce Elaine Kell Bell, age 83, passed away on Thursday, August 25, 2016 at Oak Hammock at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
Joyce, daughter of Elaine and George Kell, was born on November 4, 1932 in Alameda, California. After graduating from college, Joyce enjoyed a brief stint as a model in Hawaii before returning to the states and meeting her future husband. During her long life, she lived in five states, Washington D.C., and Belgium as a naval officer's wife. She embraced and excelled in her role as hostess and guide for families and visitors to the areas they were assigned. Her life-long interest in travel led her to many other states and countries which she thoroughly enjoyed. With her keen memory, she could tell you detailed stories of adventures in any of those locations.
Joyce was known for her indelible fashion, sense of wit, wry humor, and devotion to family. She was an exemplary daughter, wife, mother, sister, cousin, and niece. Although she always considered California to be her home, she spent the last 18 years of her life in Gainesville, Florida close to her oldest child, Candice King.
Joyce shared her life experiences with numerous good friends, including Skitsi and Mac Rein, Jr., Faye and Kenneth Westall, Joan and Bob Stammerjohn, Helen and Gene Bouslog, and cousins Laura London Sandler and Patrick London. A constant delight in her life was a succession of poodles, usually three or four at a time!
She was a big football fan and enthusiastically followed the teams in her hometown, wherever she happened to call home at the time! Washington Redskins and Florida Gators were her favorites.
Following her career as a navy wife and a focus on rearing her three children, Joyce began working in retail, eventually managing and owning an eclectic gift shop, and then worked as the controller for one of the most popular restaurants in Olde Towne, Alexandria.
In addition to her passion for travel, Joyce was a prolific reader and bridge player, with an occasional game of Mah Jong thrown in!
Joyce is predeceased by her beloved mother Elaine, her father George, and her only brother George. Those left to cherish fond memories of Joyce are her three children, Candice King (John) of Gainesville; Jeff Bell (Barbara) of Fairfax, Virginia, Robin Blake (Hubert) of Kilmarnock, Virginia, and her six grandchildren: Christie, Kathryn and Ashlyn King; Timothy (Lindsey) and Nathan Blake, and Justin Domer of Modesto, California, with his three children, Austin, Casey and Braden Domer; and ex-husband Gerald Robert Bell.
A Celebration of Life will be held at Oak Hammock's Health Pavilion Music Room, on Wednesday, August 31 at 2:30pm. If desired, in lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Joyce's name to ACORN Clinic, 23320 North State Road 235, Brooker, FL 32622 or
acornclinic.org/contribute.