Barbara Bell Obituary, Death – Barbara Pearl Bell died in the Saint John Regional Palliative Care Unit in New Brunswick, according to her relatives. Barbara Bell was born on March 5, in Moncton, New Brunswick, to parents John and Ange (Keeley) Bell. She attended Saint John High School, Mt. Allison University, and the New Brunswick Provincial Laboratories School of Medical Technology. In Saint John, New Brunswick, Rockland, and Rumford, Maine, she worked in hospital laboratories. She returned to university as a “non-traditional student,” earning a bachelor’s degree in community health education from the University of Maine while raising two kids.
Barbara continued her career in healthcare, leading community and staff education initiatives at Maine hospitals. She worked as the supervisor of an Augusta-area hospice program for the last fourteen years of her career. Barbara worked hard to ensure that all of her programming was of high quality, and she was well-liked by her staff. She routinely served as a reference source for hospice professionals from Alaska to New England. She was pleased to be chosen “Maine Hospice Council’s Volunteer of the Year” and to chair the Maine Hospice Council Board of Directors.
Barbara enjoyed travel, shopping, coffee and wine with her Rumford friends, golf, cross country and downhill skiing, hiking (but not too steep), camping, gardening, and vacations to Rangely and Wood Island with her Maine friends. She also enjoys spending time with her children. She was ecstatic with their achievements and never forgot to express her love and support for them. Her three grandkids held a particular place in her heart, and she looked forward to visiting them.
Barbara’s parents, brother Jack Bell (Houston, TX), and sister Sandra Lee Leard predeceased her (Saint John, NB). Her son Jeffrey Tapley of London, UK and Chatham, MA, and daughter Dr. Heather Tapley of Victoria, BC and Saint John, NB, as well as her brother Brad Bell (Rothesay, NB and Qualicum BC), her grandchildren Sam Tapley (Boston, MA), Mark Tapley (Quincy, MA), and Chris Tapley (Tucson, AZ), and niece Karie Leard (Tucson, AZ) survive her (Saint John, NB). She also leaves some long-term Maine and New Brunswick friends behind.