Name: Thomas F. Bell Sr.



Life Dates: 10/5/1939 - 5/9/2008



City Of Birth: Rochester, NY



Pre-deceased by

Parents John P. Gertrude Bell



Survived by

Tom is survived by his loving wife of 44 years Linda J. (Leary) Bell; children, Brenda (Andres) Mejia of Silver Spring, MD., Thomas Jr. (Colleen) Bell, Anne Marie Veno of Carmel, IN., Maureen (Mark) Hyde, Terry (Raymond) Dearcop, Carolyn (Jeffrey) Gerstner; grandchildren, Lia, Austin Mejia, Molly, Tom, Anne, Caroline Bell, Emily, William Veno, Lilith, James, Keira Hyde, Sophia, Isabelle Dearcop, Jeffrey, Henry and Angela Bell Gerstner; brothers and sister, John P. "Pat" Jr., (Kathy) Bell, Twin Bob (Kit) Bell, Joe (Mary) Bell, Jim (Beverly) Bell, Dick Bell, Larry (Eileen) Bell, Beth Pisa; sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law Leah Leary, Laurie (Jon) Korber, Leslie (Dave) Romanchick, Michael Leary Martin (Mary) Leary; cousin Rev. John O'Connor; many nieces, nephews, cousins and dear friends.



History

A Life Well Lived By Anne Marie Veno After waging a fearless 10-month battle against melanoma, Thomas F. Bell Sr. went home to his Father on May 9, 2008. His 68 years, all lived in the Rochester area, were a life of tremendous professional accomplishment, complete devotion to family, and an obvious joy in living. Born to the late John P. and Gertrude Waite Bell on October 5, 1939, Tom was raised on the family's Lexington Avenue homestead. Tom and his twin Robert were the second and third sons in the Bell family. Tom attended Holy Rosary School and graduated from Aquinas Institute in 1957. While at Aquinas he was a Mission Bouts Boxing Champion and then went on to earn Golden Glove Lightweight Champion titles in 1958 and 1959. While still competing in the Golden Gloves, Tom embarked on a 49-year long love affair. As a then-shy, freckled-faced young man, Tom often asked the pretty clerk at the Ridgeway Pharmacy for a cigar and a boxing magazine. One day he worked up enough courage to ask that clerk, Linda Leary, for a date. Seeing some promise in him, she said "yes." They dated for five years and during that courtship Tom served in the United States Army Reserve at Fort Dix, New Jersey, where he earned marksmanship awards and trained future South Vietnamese officers. Tom proposed to Linda at Sacred Heart Cathedral's Christmas Eve Mass in 1963. They married in that same church in April 1964. Ten months later the first of their six children was born. Tom was a licensed plumber, a trade he learned as a boy at the bended knee of his father. He worked as a project manager at Howe Bassett for several years and then, with a third child on the way and an insatiable hunger for prosperity, Tom started his own business. In 1967, with $3,000 scraped together, Tom, along with his twin brother and his father, opened John P. Bell Sons Inc. Offices were on the family's Lexington Ave. property. Always with an eye on doing large industrial projects, the three grew the business and soon welcomed into the company brother after brother. Tom's only sister, Beth Pisa, was part of the company as well. Tom's work at Bell's Corp included such local projects as Edison Technical High School, Van Lare Sewage Treatment Plant, the City of Rochester Water Treatment Plant at Hemlock Lake, the Carlson Wing at Rochester General Hospital, the Rochester Convention Center, and the Science Technology Building at Syracuse University. Pivotal in the fortunes of the Bell Corp. was Tom's desire to find work outside of Western New York. The company's first such job was at Mercy Hospital in Scranton, PA in 1973. After that success, Tom opened a Maryland office which positioned the Bell Corp. to be a premier contractor for some of the nation's most prestigious buildings. Still headquartered on Lexington Ave., the Bell Corp has built many significant buildings over the past 41 years. Some of Tom's greatest achievements are his various buildings and projects at the National Institute of Health, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Phillip Morris Headquarters, the United States Naval Academy, and the Pentagon. The 1994 contract at the Pentagon was then- and is still today- the largest chill water and boiler plant in the United States. Tom was also quite proud of and very thankful for the Bell Corp.'s many loyal employees. As the construction industry naturally has its ups-and-downs, Tom was known to some at the office as "Blue Sky" for his always-optimistic attitude and ability to achieve the lofty goals he set. Tom's inexhaustible mental and physical energy helped build the Bell Corp. into the gold standard in an industry where it is more common to quickly fail than to prosper for 41 years. Tom retired only due to ill health in December 2007. He remained active on the board until his death. Tom's other great achievement was his family. Together with his wife Linda, he raised six children on Seneca Parkway in Rochester. A great believer in Catholic education, Tom sent his children to Sacred Heart Cathedral School, Nazareth Academy, and Aquinas. He was also very proud to be able to send them all to college. Shortly after he celebrated his youngest daughter's college graduation, he sold the family home in Rochester and built beautiful home on Conesus Lake for him and Linda to enjoy. Tom's personal motto, one that he lived each day, was "work hard, play hard." With that in mind, he and his family enjoyed many ski trips to Ellicottville, Lake Placid, Vermont, Utah, and Colorado. A self-taught expert skier, Tom shared his passion for skiing with each of his children and many of his grandchildren. His favorite place to ski was Aspen, Colorado and for 36 years he vacationed there annually with a group of his brothers and friends. Although he had terminal cancer throughout his strong body, Tom skied Aspen with joy and thankfulness in his heart in January 2008. Golf and hunting were two of Tom's other passions. He practiced these sports locally with deer, pheasant, and turkey hunts on his own property and a membership to Cobblestone Creek County Club. Tom also loved to golf and hunt around the world. In celebration of his 65th birthday, the entire family toured Ireland, visited former exchange students, played golf, and enjoyed pints of Guinness. He played golf at St. Andrew's in Scotland on his 66th birthday and then continued into the Scottish Highlands to hunt for red stag. His 67th birthday was marked by an incredible three-week trip to Africa where he successfully hunted lion, kudu, cape buffalo, and zebra. Canada was also a favorite destination to hunt elk, moose, and bear. Tom's love of family, hard work, and great fun can all be summarized with a visit to his beloved farm. A labor of love for the past 36 years, Bell's Farm in the town of Conesus is a 475-acre ode to Tom's love of the art of building, his large family, and the outdoors. Proudly sitting atop the hill between Conesus and Hemlock lakes, Bell's Farm is where Tom, his family, and many friends gathered to work and to play. One project after another received Tom's diligent attention until his farm became a masterpiece portrait of all that was important to him. His touch can be seen all around; it is in the log cabin large enough to accommodate his growing family, in the barn where all his projects were born, and in the spring-fed ponds into which Tom dove after a satisfying day of work. Wide-open fields and wooded trails alike all whisper his name and carry marks of his devotion. Although he died of melanoma, Tom won his battle with cancer. The disease may have ravaged his body but it never touched his spirit. From bearing pain with little complaint to making jokes during a Hospice visit, Tom's unique way of leading his family and friends through his fight showed the strength of his character and his ever-present concern for those blessed enough to call him husband, brother, dad, papa, and friend.



To view Tom's video trbitue visit: http://bartolomeo.yourtribute.com/viewtribute.asp?fh=bartolomeomv=ThomasFBellSr.html



Donations

Those wishing may contribute to Aquinas Institute, Class of 1957, Scholarship Fund, 1127 Dewey Ave., Rochester, NY 14613 or to Livingston County Hospice Fund, Livingston County Health Department, 2 County Campus, Mt. Morris, NY 14510-1619 in Tom's memory.



Services

BARTOLOMEO PEROTTO Funeral Home, Inc., 1411 Vintage Lane (Between 390 Long Pond Rd.) where Tom's visitation will be Monday, May 12th Tuesday, May 13th from 2-4 7-9 PM. Tom's Funeral Mass will be celebrated Wednesday, May 14th, 10:30 AM at St. Matthew's Church, 6591 Richmond Mills Rd, Livonia, NY 14487, followed by Tom's Interment in St. Michael's Cemetery