Doris Coleman Bell, 100, died early Sunday morning, September 15, 2024, at Kimball Farms Nursing Care Center, Lenox, MA. Born on Sunday, March 30, 1924, in Troy, N.Y., she was the daughter of the late Arthur Edward and Jane (Fitzpatrick) Coleman, formerly of Watervliet, N.Y.
Doris Anne Coleman lived in Watervliet, NY for 27 years. She graduated from Catholic Central High School in Troy, N.Y., in 1941. She worked for 10 years before marriage. She worked in the Property Office of the Watervliet Arsenal Field Service Department during World War II. Doris spent a couple of years working for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where she met her future husband. She returned to the Watervliet Arsenal working in the Placement Office until her marriage. She was married on June 9, 1951, to Robert Edmund Bell, son of the late Edmund and Nellie (Keenan) Bell, formerly of Berlin, N.H., who preceded her in death after 66 years of marriage.
Doris was a devoted wife and mother who raised three sons. During her marriage, the family lived in Schenectady, N.Y.; Pittsfield; Houston, Texas; and finally returning to Pittsfield. After the death of her husband in 2017, she moved to Kimball Farms in Lenox.
Doris’ hobbies included cooking and, with her husband, walking daily for over 32 years, doing crossword puzzles, and tracing family genealogy. She was a communicant of Sacred Heart Church in Pittsfield for 55 years and a communicant of St. Ann’s Church in Lenox for the last seven years.
Doris is survived by her three sons, Richard and his wife Anne-Marie (Toole) of Richmond, Ronald of East Windsor, N.J., and Douglas and his wife Debora (Dyson) of Lancaster, Penn.; one sister, Mary Colaneri and her husband Jack of Averill Park, N.Y.; seven grandchildren, Robyn Gentile and her husband Andrew of Wakefield, Mass., Shannon Stern and her husband Peter of Acton, Mass., Craig and his wife Lindsey (Cohen) of Omaha, Neb., Elizabeth Bell-Monnich and her husband Charles of North Chesterfield, Va., Lauren Osborne and her husband Carl of Natick, Mass., Drew Bell of Lancaster, Penn., and Adam Bell of Herndon, Va.; and 11 great-grandchildren. She is also survived by sisters-in-law Mary (Connally) Coleman and Ljiljana (Milkovic) Coleman and innumerable nieces, nephews, grand-nieces, and grand-nephews. Doris Anne was preceded in death by three siblings, Jane Coleman Styles of Latham, N.Y.; John J. Coleman of Murrieta, Calif.; and Thomas H. “Harry” Coleman of Latham, N.Y.
A Liturgy of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Ann Church on Monday, September 23, at 10 a.m., by the Rev. Monsignor John J. Bonzagni, Pastor. Interment will follow in St. Joseph’s Cemetery. There will be an hour of visitation from 8:45 to 9:45 a.m. at the Roche Funeral Home, 120 Main Street, Lenox, MA 01240. To share memories and stories, please visit the funeral home’s website.
