Dr. Ralph Rogers Bell, age 87, passed away May 4, 2009 in Edmonds, Washington, of pneumonia.

Dr. Bell was born January 31, 1922, in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada, and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is the son of John Bell and Madrid Rogers Stone Bell, both deceased.

Dr. Bell graduated from Lord Byng High School in Vancouver in 1940, the University of British Columbia in Vancouver in 1944 with a Bachelor of Science, and in 1947 with a Bachelor of Education.

He attended Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon, and received a Master of Science in 1949. He was a Teaching Assistant in the School of Education at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles where he received the degree of Doctor of Education in 1959. The University of California, Los Angeles, appointed Dr. Bell a Postdoctoral Scholar in Education in 1967.

Dr. Bell was a member of Phi Delta Kappa, national honor education fraternity; a Teaching Assistant and Lecturer at the University of Southern California, member of the Association of California School Administrators, and the American Association of School Administrators; and a Director of the Individualized and Small Group Instruction Association.

Dr. Bell was a State Chairman of Research of the California Association of Public School Business Officials.

Like his father, John Bell, who held first trumpet chair in the Vancouver Symphony, Dr. Ralph Bell enjoyed classical music, and found relaxation in playing the piano and singing in church choirs.

As a member of the Choir at Hollywood First Methodist Church in Hollywood, California, he met Nancy Lee Hoyt, who taught in the Sunday School. They were married in the Church on July 3, 1953.

Dr. Bell entered education as a teacher in Ladysmith, which later became the Nanaimo-Ladysmith School District, located North of Victoria, British Columbia, and he later taught in Inglewood, California.

His professional career included a Principalship and Superintendence in Sulphur Springs Union School District, Saugus, later renamed Canyon Country, California, located in the Santa Clarita area north of San Fernando Valley.

Dr. Bell became District Superintendent of Bear Valley Unified School District at Big Bear Lake, California. At the latter location he was the Off-Campus Coordinator for the San Bernardino Valley Community College.

He was an advocate for the operation of schools on a year-round basis, and pioneered the first twelve month school district in the Western United States that included all students in kindergarten through grade 12.

He promoted individualize and small group instruction, and introduced basic reading programs that were researched at the Reading Laboratory of the University of Southern California.

Dr. Bell was actively involved in community activities. He was president of the Tri-Canyon Kiwanis Club, and President of the Soledad Township (renamed Santa Clarita Valley) Coordinating Council. The Boards of Supervisors in both Los Angeles County and San Bernardino County adopted Resolutions commending Dr. Ralph R. Bell for his years of contributions to communities and education.

Dr. Bell was listed in The Marquis book "Whose Who in the World 2000," for outstanding achievement in his field of endeavor, and who contributed significantly to the betterment of contemporary society.

Retirement years for Dr. Bell were spent between his ranch on San Juan Island, WA, and his home in Edmonds, WA. He named his twenty-eight foot cruiser the "Nancy Lee" for his wife, and they enjoyed boating and fishing around the islands in Puget Sound. They spent twenty years of travel around the World.

Dr. Bell was a first prize winter in the First Year (1996) of the Edmonds in Bloom Floral Competition, and continued to be an annual winner. He received praise from Citizens of Edmonds for his beautiful floral garden at Bell's Sound View on downtown Main Street.

Dr. Bell was a member of the Sno-Isle Genealogical Society and the Seattle Genealogical Society. He spent twenty-five years of research on his family history, and published "A Rogers Family Ancestry, 715 A.D. to 2000 A.D., of Dr. Ralph Rogers Bell". A family lineage that includes pioneers of New England, Canada, and Royalty of England, Scotland, and Europe.

His ancestral generations included generation #23: King Edward I of England who married Eleanor of Castile, daughter of King Ferdinand of Castile and Leon; and generation #28: King Henry I of England, youngest son of William The Conqueror, who married Matilda (Edith) of Scotland, daughter of Malcolm III Canmore, King of Scotland; generation #32A: King Henry I Capet of France, who married Anne of Kiev, daughter of Yoroslav I, the Grand Prince of Kiev and his wife Ingegard, the daughter of Olaf III, King of Sweden; and generation #40: Charlemagne, King of France, Holy Roman Emperor.

Dr. Bell was a member of The National Society of Magna Charta Dames and Barons, an Herediatary Order of descendants of the Barons who signed the famous Charter which has been called the "keystone of English Liberty".

The Great Charter of Liberties, as it is known, is the foundation of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.

Dr. Bell was descended from Baron Henry De Bohun, 5th Earl of Heresford, Signer of the Charter. He belonged to The Plantagenet Society whose membership is of lineal descent for The Plantagenet Kings of England. He was of accredited lineal descent from Emperor Charlemagne and enrolled in the Colonial Order of the Crown.

Dr. Ralph Bell is survived by his wife Nancy Lee Hoyt Bell; his daughters Martha Chambers Bell Karr and husband Bruce of Gig Harbor, Washington and Nancy Lee Bell Winder and her husband Richard Lewis of Marysville, Washington; and his sons, John Curtis Bell and his wife Theresa Elaine of Murrieta, California; James Hoyt Bell and his wife Stephanie Elissa of Bellingham, Washington; and Ralph Rogers Bell, Jr. and his wife Renee Kathleen Reed of Edmonds, Washington.

His seven loving grandchildren will also keep his memory alive: David Rogers Bell, Martha Sue Harris Riley, Elaine Lockard Bell, James Harold Harris Jr., Curtis King Bell, Ryan Richard Winder, and Linda Lee Winder. He wants his children and grandchildren to know that they can do anything they dream to achieve.

He was preceded in death by his daughter, Linda Lee Bell (age 4 years).
Arrangements by Beck's Funeral Home, Edmonds, Washington. Dr. Bell's life will be celebrated at a private family service which will be held at the Edmonds Memorial Cemetery.

Remembrances may be made to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Ave. N, J5-200, Seattle, WA 98109.