Holley Mack Bell II

WINDSOR — Holley Mack Bell, II, of Windsor and Eden House in Bertie County, North Carolina, died Sunday, May 11, 2008.

A celebration of life service will be held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, May 14, at St. Thomas' Episcopal Church, Windsor.

The youngest of the four sons of Minnie Turner Bond and John Cartwright Bell, he was born May 9, 1922.

He was a graduate of Windsor High School, the University of North Carolina School of Journalism, the Graduate Institute of International Studies, University of Geneva, Switzerland, and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.

Mr. Bell served in the U. S. Army from 1943-1946 in the American and European Theaters. As a civilian he served as Historian, Continental Base Section, War Department, Bad Nauheim, Germany, from 1947-1948.

He was a reporter for the Charlotte News, Editor-Manager of the Bertie Ledger-Advance and Associate Editor of the Greensboro Daily News.

Following his newspaper career he was employed by the U. S. Information Agency serving as Press Attaché at American Embassies in Santiago, Chile and Bogota, Colombia, as Public Affairs Officer in Quito, Ecuador, and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. His Washington assignments included Chief, European Branch, International Press Services and Chief, Foreign Media Reactions.

Mr. Bell was a lifelong advocate for historic preservation, serving on the Friends of Hope Committee, Historic Hope Foundation and the Board of Advisors, Preservation, North Carolina. Mr. Bell was appointed by Governor Hunt to the North Carolina Cultural Task Force and to the Historic Murfreesboro Commission. He was a member of the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association, the North Carolina Art Society, the Museum of the Albemarle, the North Caroliniana Society and the Carolina Charter Corporation, serving on various committees in each. He was President of the Friends of Joyner Library, East Carolina University. He was a National Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

A member of the Episcopal Church, Mr. Bell served on vestries and as Senior Warden in parishes in his overseas assignments and in the United States. He was appointed Historiographer of the Diocese of East Carolina in 1991, serving until his retirement in 2007, when he was made Historiographer Emeritus.

Mr. Bell is survived by his wife, Clara Bond Bell; two daughters, Lisa Bell-Loncella and her husband, Jim Loncella, of Johnstown, Pa.; C. B. Guess and her husband, Keith Guess, of Summerville, S.C.; his son, Holley Mack Bell, III, of Raleigh; two granddaughters, Meg Guess and Julia Bond Guess and his grandson, Robert Holley Kintner of Chapel Hill, N.C.

A reception at the home, 407 South King Street, Windsor, will follow the service.

The family request in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made to St. Thomas' Church Memorial Trust, PO Box 400 Windsor, NC 27983, The Friends of Hope Endowment, 132 Hope House Road, Windsor, NC 27983 or to a charity of one's choice.

Offer condolences at www. news-record.com/nr/obits