Jack Slade Maclen Bell, 74
Former Bonners Ferry resident Jack Slade Maclen Bell, 74, of Cottonwood, Ariz, passed away at his home Monday, July 27, 2009. Jack was named Maclen Gaylord Bell at birth on March 10, 1935, in Carmichael, Saskatchewan, Canada, and officially changed his name in 2001.
He lived in Canada until age 6 when his family moved to Bonners Ferry.
Jack attended school in Bonners Ferry and will be remembered as a very good trumpet player. He and friends formed The Hillbilly Band, which performed once over the Sandpoint radio station.
As a teenager, he was on the American Legion Baseball team, and in a tied 21-inning game, Jack bunted the ball, enabling two runners to score, thus winning the game.
In 1952, he enlisted in U.S. Air Force and served in Japan during the Korean Conflict.
While in the military, Jack married Vonnie King of Porthill. To this union were born two children.
They were later divorced. and after his discharge, Jack moved to Coeur d’Alene, enrolled in North Idaho Junior College, and then Lewis & Clark Continuation High School in Spokane, Wash., where he graduated with honors.
After enrolling in Kinman Business School and transferring to Spokane Vocational Technical College, Jack earned a degree in bookkeeping.
He married Rosemary Kaye DeMers of Sandpoint, in 1964. They lived in Spokane until 1979, at which time they moved to Arizona.
Jack became a political activist and participated in a variety of rallies. He became an advocate for his youngest son’s education. As a result of his persistence, the Humboldt School District’s special education program is the finest in Arizona.
In recent years, Jack especially enjoyed volunteering at Prescott Veteran’s and Verde Valley hospitals until his health declined.
Jack is survived by daughter Vickie Lynn White of Coeur d’Alene; sons Harley Gene Hubbell of Rancho Murieta, Calif., Maclen Gaylord Jr. and Alexander Uzell, and their mother, Kaye, all of Prescott Valley, Ariz.; granddaughters Colette (Colin) Bonstead of Austin, Texas, and Crystal White of Post Falls; great-grandchildren Clint Bonstead and Anika White; sisters Lillian (Wally) Smith of Cushing, Minn., and Gerri (Norm) of Bothell, Wash.; 10 nieces and nephews, his best-friend-like-a brother Coleman Durham of Chino Valley, Ariz.; his cat Pepper; and many friends.
Jack was preceded in death by his parents and a sister, Barbara Simpson.
There will be no funeral or memorial. His cremains will be buried either in the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona in Phoenix or Veteran’s Cemetery of Prescott.