Deanie and Family, I'm so sorry to hear of Grover's passing. It was so good to have you with us at Grace for Christmas Eve service. I am such an admirer of Grover and the wonderful long ministry he had for the Kingdom! Well done, good and faithful servant! You have now entered into your rest! Welcome home!

- Cathy Green, Savannah, GA

A candle has been lit!

Sunday sermons influenced by National Geographic articles helped me process current events. Those yellow framed magazines dotted side tables and their words ended up on handwritten pages piled on his desk in front of the window. It’s in these times of a war-torn world and a nation ever at odds that I remember them. The sermons that helped me to form my own opinions about the world while my stomach growled, hungry for inevitable fluffy white rolls at the lunch he made soon after church ended. While my afternoons were spent watching TV and doing homework, he was out at the bedside of his congregation. Then he went to the grocery store. Phone calls came in and he was gone again to comfort another family. I’ve always felt close to death, at ease with it. I think that’s because of him. I was taught that this place isn’t the end. This place where it’s often hard to keep going. Where storms rage. There’s something after, even if we can’t see it. I’ll miss afternoon coffee and comforting macaroni and cheese after a long day. I’ll miss his uncanny out-of-tune singing drifting from the kitchen. I’ll remember our days in the garden when I was a kid and gallon pickle jars full of fresh tea. This world is upside down, and he’s not here anymore to help us process it or tell us a helpful anecdote about how hummingbirds see more colors than we can. But I have pieces of him he left behind, memories like seeds. I’ll bake fluffy white rolls, tell people about the interesting things I’ve learned from yellow framed magazines, and watch the garden grow. I’ll keep going in this place that isn’t the end. Where things get hard and clouds cover the sky. But birds fly even in rain and flowers grow. I'll see you again and I'll miss you while I'm here. Love you, Top - Darcy

- Darcy Melton, Savannah, Georgia

A candle has been lit!

My condolences and prayers go out to the family. I know he will be greeted with open arms by Dean in Heaven. He will truly be missed.

- Shirley Boone, Beaumont, Texas

Sorry to hear about Mr. Bell. He was always kind and had a smile in his face. Thoughts and prayers for the entire family.

- Sandra Melton Scott, Louisville, Ky

Thoughts and prayer for your family.

- Aleen Melton , Savannah, Ga

So sorry to learn that Bro Grover has outrun us to the Father's House. We enjoyed and relationship with him especially in the Eagles Of South Georgia Conf. He did whatever was asked of him in a grand fashion and always on time.

- Rev. W. Varl and Geneva Howard, Valdosta, Georgia

Grover, Dr. Bell, was my pastor at Robert McIntire for many years. I knew most of the family and they were personal friends in so many ways. I had nothing but the highest respect and fondness for Grover. To me, he always held himself eloquently and with an infectious, robust, quick to be there laugh. I loved him. Deanie, I can only imagine how you will miss him, even though we all know how happy he is now. Al is grieving his departure, too. We love you guys!

- Sharon Morris Clark and Al Clark, Bella Vista, AR

I don't know if or how anyone who loved the Rev. Dr. G. Grover Bell might ever see or know about this note, but several times already during this month of October 2024, which many refer to as 'Pastor Appreciation month' I have stopped to remember Rev. Bell, and have given thanks to God for His calling over the life of Rev. Bell and of Rev. Bell's powerful lasting influence through the years of my life. He was my pastor during adolescence in the mid and late 1960's in Albany, Ga. He and Deanie mentored me in the faith, and influenced me into a life of pastoral ministry as a student lay pastor and youth minister throughout South Georgia in my early years, and into a life of public service in the Metro Atlanta area until my own retirement. Many, many times I have felt and been moved by the memory of his ministerial and personal influence in my life. Although our paths have only rarely crossed over the years I have known of his and Deanie's retirement and continued service in Savannah, and have only today learned of his death there two years ago. His funeral was held on my birthday in 2022, in a church I loved and once served as it's youth minister nearly 60 years ago. I am so grateful to his wonderful family who supported the ministry of this awesome man of God! Cecil Goodroe Conyers, Ga.

- Cecil Goodroe, Conyers, GA