Rodney A. Bell

July 29, 1938 - December 2, 2020

Dateline Jasper, Indiana Rodney A. Bell, age 82, of Jasper, Indiana, passed away at 7:10 p.m. on Wednesday, December 2, 2020, at Northwood Good Samaritan Retirement Community (where many heroes work) in Jasper, Indiana. He overcame his battle with COVID, but unfortunately lost the battle with pneumonia. Rodney was born in Washington, Indiana, on July 29, 1938 to Ephraim "Pat" and Wilma (Akers) Bell. He married Mary Lynn Williams on November 23, 1961. After graduating from Washington High School he served in the Navy until 1959. He then obtained his bachelor's degree at Indiana State University. Rodney and his family moved to Jasper in 1970 to help start and grow the computer department for Kimball International. Rodney was very proficient in the COBOL programming which was the backbone of the computer system at that time. He was not a person who liked change and had a hard time adjusting from the black screen with green program coding to the point and click windows based computers. He had a stubborn side (or maybe that was all sides). He liked his routines and humble lifestyle. He enjoyed his crockpot pot roast for lunch every day. He lived in the same house for 50 years (with no or very few updates). He loved to hang out and drink with the boys at Yaggis back in the day and never moved off schedule from his fishing routine at Beaver Lake (and NO where else). He watched TV in the basement in the same location and same comfortable recliner (ok, we got him to upgrade once) and took to his grave that Richard Nixon was the best President of the United States----ever. Rodney was not a man of great patience. However, that changed when he was driving his ski boat on Beaver Lake providing ski lessons to his neighbors, friends, family and us. There are countless people who still remember the experience and the time and patience he had to see them succeed to get on top of the water for their very first time. At times, Rodney could be the life of the party. But the majority of the time he cherished his alone time. There were moments it was hard to understand his ability to be content at doing nothing, or it seemed like nothing. Maybe there is a lesson in there that we should all slow down and cherish the peaceful moments and soak up our blessings. Surviving are his wife of 59 years, Mary Lynn Bell, Jasper, IN, two daughters; Becky Butcher and companion Steve Chambers, Loogootee, IN, Laura (Mike) Albrecht, Jasper, IN, one son; John (Bobbi Jo) Bell, Fountain Hills, AZ, six grandchildren; Jared Butcher, Nalon, Madysan, Corban Bell, Kaitlin and Logan Albrecht, many nieces and nephews- several of which learned to ski at Beaver lake by Uncle Rodney and two brothers; Charlie Bell and Dan (Margie) Bell, also his loving and supporting neighbors, Dean and Jo Jacobs. Preceding him in death is one sister, Gayle Alexander. There will be no visitation or service. We will honor Rodney's wishes and have him cremated. Memorial contributions may be made to Beaver Lake Maintenance Fund (1301 St Charles St. Jasper, IN 47546) or to Northwood Retirement Community (2515 Newton St. Jasper, IN 47546), or Dubois County Humane Society (426 Wernsing Rd Jasper, IN 47546). Online condolences may be made at www.becherkluesner.com.