Christy Wilkes Bell ’44

Christy died Aug. 3, 2007. He was 84 and from an extended Princeton family.

Born in New York, his father was Samuel D. Bell ’13, and his brothers were Samuel D. ’43, Philip W. Bell ’46 *54 [see memorial on page 53], and Evan Bell ’52. He prepared at Deerfield Academy. At Princeton, he was active in freshman wrestling and soccer, roomed with Ham Caruthers and Rob Carlisle, and majored in politics. He left for the Navy Air Corps in 1942, served as an aviator in the Pacific, and returned for his degree in 1946. He was a member of Cap and Gown Club (as a Princeton daughter and son-in-law later would be).

Christy spent 23 years in senior management at General Electric, then became an energetic entrepreneur developing new technologies until his death. A family camp in the Adirondacks provided group fishing for 46 straight years.

He and Martha (“Pat”) Franklin were married in 1946, with Ham and Gid Upton as ushers. Besides his widow, Christy is survived by two daughters, Barbara Shea ’74 and Martha Bell; three sons, Christy Jr., Evan, and Philip; a son-in-law, James Shea ’74; two grandsons, Evan Shea ’04 and David Shea ’11; and the widows of his three brothers. Our condolences go to the whole family.