Tom Bell Obituary

Will Tom Bell, age 86, passed away at his home on August 18, 2024. Tom was born to Malcolm Edward and Louella White Bell on July 26, 1938 on their family farm where he lived for 86 years in the Bonicord community in southern Dyer County.
Tom leaves his wife of 65 years, Helen (Cherry) Bell; one daughter Sandy B. Baker (Brad) and one son Will Tom Bell II (Stacey); four grandchildren; Ashley Baker Kelley (Jared) of Decaturville, Tenn., Todd Baker (Taylor), Jacob Bell, and Ethan Bell, all of the Bonicord community; two great-sweetheart-grandchildren; Anna Claire Kelley and Walker Graves Baker. He also leaves one sister, Polly Harper (Tommy), also of Bonicord and precious nieces and nephews that he called his own. He was a member and elder of Miller's Chapel church of Christ for many years before joining West Dyersburg church of Christ. He was preceded in death by his parents, one brother, John Mack Bell, and one sister, Betty Jane Carpenter.
Visitation will be held at Dyersburg Funeral Home on Monday, August 19, 2024 from 5:00 until 8:00 p.m. Funeral services will be held in the chapel of Dyersburg Funeral Home at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, August 20, 2024, conducted by Mr. Stephen Sutton. Interment will follow in the Bell-Walker Cemetery in the Bonicord Community.
Serving as pallbearers will be Todd Baker, Jacob Bell, Ethan Bell, Jared Kelley, Johnny Bell, and Bob Carpenter. Honorary pallbearers will be: Mac Summerlin, Daniel Boone, Troy Akin, Stanley Nale, Thom McKay, Larry Riggs, and Jim Putman.
Tom attended school in Bonicord and was in the first class to go to Holice Powell Elementary School when it opened. In 1956 he graduated from Dyersburg High School and went on to UT Martin where he met Helen Cherry. Tom and Helen married in 1959 and returned home to the dairy farm in Bonicord. Tom was a founding member of the first volunteer fire department in Dyer County, which served the entire county with one fire truck. This charter group would later become the Bonicord Volunteer Fire Department.
As a life-long row crop and cattle farmer, he worked hard to make sure he left all things better than he found them. Tom loved God, family, and farming. He thrived as a steward of the land and enjoyed watching kids, grandkids, great-grandkids, crops, and cattle grow all while thanking God for making it happen.
Tom was well known in the area and across the state for his dedication to and knowledge of agriculture. He grew up in the 4H Club and shared stories of showing the Tennessee State Dairy Herd across the country. He and the other cattlemen traveled by train and slept in the boxcars with cattle between shows. As a dairyman, he was active in the Tennessee Holstein Association.
Tom continued to share his love for cattle and livestock shows throughout his life. He enjoyed seeing his grandchildren and great granddaughter showing cattle and livestock at local, state, and national shows. County fairs were his vacation and a good fiddlestick while enjoying a livestock show was his happy place. Tom worked to keep his family farm in the family, and it's 6 generations strong!
To send a flower arrangement or to plant trees in memory of
Tom Bell, please click here to visit our Sympathy Store.