Throughout Montana, family funeral services have traditionally been very successful. The Bell Funeral Home was no exception. Carl W. “Bill” Bell helped his father in the funeral home from a very young age.
It all started in 1922 when Wilford F. Bell began working as an assistant at the Tucker Funeral Home in Malta. He wasn’t licensed yet, and Mr. Tucker wanted Wilford to get his training and license to practice in funeral service.
So, in 1923, Wilford packed up his wife and daughter to head to San Bernardino, California. During the trip south, he had to overhaul his car’s motor in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the trip ended up taking a month. When the family finally arrived in San Bernardino, Wilford attended mortuary science school and worked for the City of San Bernardino. While in California, his son, Carl W. Bell, was born in August 1924.
Wilford wasn’t even planning to go home to Malta, but Mr. Tucker requested he come back, and the family made the decision to move back in 1930. A few months later, Wilford moved one block south and opened the Bell Funeral Home in 1930.
Ninety-two years ago, things were different. Motorized funeral processions were available, but horse-drawn wagon hearses were still being used. As in all of Montana, the population was much more rural, and funeral arrangements were often made in the homes of the people being served. It wasn’t until after World War II that it became much more common for everybody served to instead come to the funeral home.
Wilford was also active in farming, and he and his wife Kathryn ran a flower shop for many years, which helped financially support their endeavors. Wilford retired from funeral service in 1970; served as President of MFDA in 1971, and passed away in 1977.
Throughout Montana, family funeral services have traditionally been very successful. The Bell Funeral Home was no exception. Carl W. “Bill” Bell helped his father in the funeral home from a very young age.
After graduation in 1943, Bill Bell enlisted in the United States Navy and served in World War II on the USS Suwannee. After the war, he immediately headed for St. Louis, Missouri, where he completed his Mortuary Science training. He then returned to Malta to assist his dad at the Bell Funeral Home. Bill and his wife, Dorothy, had six children and the Malta Bell Funeral Home was doing about 50 calls per year – needless to say, they were very busy.
In 1956, Bill moved his family to Glasgow, where he worked at the Peterson Funeral Home, one of two funeral homes in Glasgow at that time. In 1958, Bill and Ward Penland purchased the Peterson Funeral Home and began operating Glasgow’s one funeral home as the Penland-Bell Funeral Home. Buying out Ward in 1962, Bill then operated the business as Bell Mortuary. He was also active at this time in farming and was a crop sprayer for 30 years. Additionally, he owned a vault manufacturing company, and a cement trucking company as well. Bill was active with the Montana Aeronautics Division and served as President of the Montana State Chamber of Commerce from 1964 to 1965.
Bill’s two sons, Steven C. Bell and W. Kent Bell, both worked at Bell Mortuary, following in their father’s – and grandfather’s – footsteps. And Bill’s daughters, Cherie, Kathy, Kari, and Jenny were the light of his life. He passed away in 2018.
Marvin Edwards married Bill’s eldest daughter Cherie in 1966. They attended Northern Montana College and Marvin also worked at Bell Mortuary. He received his mortuary science training at Mount Hood in Portland in 1969 and 1970. He returned to Bell Mortuary and they purchased Eliason Funeral in Chinook in 1973. Marvin operated the renamed
Edwards Funeral Home from 1973 to 2011, when he passed away. Marvin and Cherie’s daughter, Camia Edwards Savage, received her mortuary science training at the Simmons Mortuary Institute of Funeral Service in New York in 1997. She was active until Cherie sold Edwards Funeral Home in 2017.
In 1974, Steven C. Bell completed his college career, attending Kemper Military Academy in Missouri, the University of Utah, Carroll College in Helena, and completed his mortuary training at Mount Hood in Portland. Steven operated the Bell Mortuary in Glasgow from 1974 till his retirement in 2015.
Steve and his wife, Vickie, had three children. Brother Kent attended Carroll College and received his funeral home
training at the University of Minnesota in 1976. He moved back to Glasgow in 1991 and worked with Steve until he
retired in 2015. Kent and wife Kathy also had three children. Kent served as President of MFDA in 2009, and Steve served as President in 2013. Steve passed away in June of 2019.
Kent’s oldest son, Brian Bell, attended Montana State University, graduating in 2000. He then received his mortuary science training at Mount Hood in Portland, graduating in 2002, and returned to Bell Mortuary. Brian and his wife, Victoria, have three children and live in Glasgow.
It has been a privilege for the four generations of the Bell Family to be in funeral service these past 85 years, from 1930
to 2015. It has also been a great experience to work with the talented and wonderful people who comprise funeral service in Montana.
