Obituary of Capt. Douglas Bell

Capt. Douglas R. Bell 78, Of Petite Riviere, passed away after losing his fight with cancer on Tuesday, February 21, 2006 in the Veteran’s Unit of Fishermen’s Memorial Hospital. Born in Cherry Hill, he was the son of the late Howard and Jennie (Bowers) Bell. He was a seaman all his life starting in 1941 as a shore fisherman at the age of thirteen. In 1942, he signed on the Markland shipping steamer Liverpool Rover as a galley boy; this began a long and interesting career. He was a veteran of the Normandy Invasion as a member of the deck crew of the American Liberty Ship - Robert E. Peary, making eight trips from Falmouth and Southampton to the beach heads of Omaha and Utah. In May 1945, he was an able seaman on the S/S Rockclife Park in convoy Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to New York when the convoy was attacked by a German U-Boat, said to have been the last convoy attacked in the Western Atlantic in the Second World War. After the war, he continued in the Foreign Trades until 1949 at which time he joined Canadian National Steamships in the West Indian trade as a Junior deck officer. In 1956 he obtained his masters papers and joined Shaw Steamships of Halifax as Master and for the next four years sailed into the Eastern Arctic and Greenland as well as Southern waters; his wife sailing with him on occasion. In 1960, he joined the Halifax Pilots as Master of the Pilot Vessel and obtained his pilots licence in 1968. In addition to piloting vessels in Halifax he also piloted vessels in and out of the South Shore Ports of Lunenburg, Bridgewater, Liverpool and Shelburne, retiring in 1989. He was a long time member of the Canadian Merchant Navy Veterans Association, the Lunenburg County Historical Society, having done much research into shipbuilding in Petite Riviere and surrounding area. Surviving are his sons, John (Catherine), Petite Riviere; Peter (Lisë), Bush Island. Daughter, Rena Mary Ann Bell, Crousetown. 5 granddaughters, 3 grandsons. He was predeceased by his loving wife of fifty years, the former Rena (Amero); brother, George. By request, there will be no visitation at the funeral home. Funeral service will be 2 p.m., Saturday, at St. Michael’s Anglican Church, Petite Riviere. Rev. David Phillips officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. Family flowers only, donations may be made to the Canadian Cancer Society, St. Michael’s Anglican Church Building Fund or charity of choice. Funeral arrangements under the direction of Sweeny’s Funeral Home, Bridgewater where online condolences may be made by visiting www.sweenysfuneralhome.com