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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Family, friends, and former colleagues are mourning |
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the loss of veteran Texas newspaperman Charles Raymond Bell, Jr., |
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of Waxahachie, who died on March 5, 2009, at the age of 77; and |
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WHEREAS, A native of Waco, Ray Bell began his career in |
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journalism at the age of 16, when he graduated from high school and |
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began a full-time job with the Hillsboro Daily Mirror; he started as |
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an assistant sports editor but was soon promoted to sports editor; |
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he also took on the job of writing about local engagements, |
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weddings, and parties and eventually was given responsibility for |
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the entire paper; and |
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WHEREAS, Picking up a college education piecemeal between |
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jobs, Mr. Bell was a journalist for the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, |
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the Temple Daily Telegram, the Charlotte Observer, the Waco |
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Tribune-Herald, the Dallas Times Herald, and the Fort Worth Press; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, He spent an exceptional 20 years with the Dallas |
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Morning News, where his work in the newsroom earned him the respect |
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of his editors and colleagues; he could handle myriad |
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responsibilities, and he received numerous awards, including ones |
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for his firsthand report of surviving a heart attack in the paper's |
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parking lot in 1983; and |
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WHEREAS, Mr. Bell also worked for the Associated Press in |
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Atlanta, sold articles to national magazines, such as The Saturday |
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Evening Post and Vanity Fair, and published six books, including |
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The Hiroshima Pilot, which he coauthored with William Bradford |
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Huie; he taught journalism part-time at El Centro College in Dallas |
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and worked in public relations; and |
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WHEREAS, Well past his retirement from full-time newspaper |
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work, Mr. Bell carried on as a journalist, and he covered local high |
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school football games even as his health began to fail, until about |
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a year before his death; and |
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WHEREAS, Ray Bell's veins ran with printer's ink for 60 years |
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as he pursued the trade he loved, and though his final late edition |
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has been put to bed, memories of the gentle nature and colorful |
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personality of this old-style journalist will remain to comfort all |
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those who knew and loved him; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 81st Texas |
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Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of Charles Raymond Bell, |
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Jr., and extend sincere condolences to the members of his family: to |
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his wife, Barbara Bell; to his sons, Ray Bell III, Don Shaw, and |
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Kevin Shaw and his wife, Marsha; to his daughter, Monica Prater, and |
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her husband, Richard; to his five grandchildren and one |
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great-grandchild; and to his other relatives and friends; and, be |
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it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of |
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Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Ray Bell. |
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Pitts |
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______________________________ |
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Speaker of the House |
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I certify that H.R. No. 2705 was unanimously adopted by a |
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rising vote of the House on May 31, 2009. |
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______________________________ |
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Chief Clerk of the House |
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