Submitted by: Dan Rich

Matthew Robert Bell

May 2, 1982 - Aug. 23, 1999

South Bend Tribune 8/25/1999

Matthew Robert Bell, 17 years old, residing on Buckeye Road, Mishawaka, IN, passed away at 8:00 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 23, 1999, in the Memorial Hospital, South Bend, after a courageous battle with cancer since January of 1998.

Matthew was born on May 2, 1982, in South Bend and has been a lifelong area resident. He was just entering his senior year at Penn High School. Matthew was a member of St. Mark Missionary Church in Mishawaka, where he was active in the youth group. Previous to his illness, he also participated in the church basketball league. Matthew loved doing anything that had to do with working with his hands. That may be playing basketball, tinkering with fixing things and figuring out how things worked, or working on his car.

Matthew is survived by his parents, Mary (Base) Bell of Elkhart and Robert J. Bell, Jr., of Mishawaka; one sister, Rachel Bell of Mishawaka; maternal grandparents, Devon and Melba Base of South Bend; paternal grandparents, Robert J., Sr., and Donna Bell of South Bend; paternal grandmother, Patricia Bell of South Bend; maternal great grandmother, Edna Base of Bremen; and paternal great grandmother, Arietta Wade of South Bend.

Funeral services will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, August 27, 1999, in the Palmer Funeral Home, 1109 Lincolnway West, Osceola, IN. Rev. Edward Fritz, pastor of Evangel Heights United Methodist Church in South Bend, and Rev. John Gregory, pastor of St. Mark Missionary Church in Mishawaka, will officiate. Graveside services and burial will follow at Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens Cemetery, Osceola. Friends may call from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, August 26, 1999, in the Palmer Funeral Home, Osceola. Contributions in memory of Matthew Robert Bell may be donated to Memorial Hospital Pediatrics Hematology/Oncology Department, 615 N. Michigan Street, South Bend, IN 46601.