Howard D Bell, Sr.

Howard David Bell, Sr. grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina, and graduated from Grimsley High School. At age 18, he and two friends traveled to Raleigh and enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1944, serving during the final 13 months of World War II.

According to family recollections, Howard served aboard a large tanker that supported Admiral William “Bull” Halsey’s fleet, following it as the war pushed toward Japan and into Tokyo Bay. In a personal war diary entry remembered by the family, he captured a vivid holiday moment from wartime service: “Christmas day — beer for breakfast.”

After returning home, Howard continued his education and graduated from Guilford College. He later attended UNCG, where he reconnected with Hazel, and the two married. Howard built an accomplished career with Burlington Industries, supporting 42 plants worldwide and becoming the person called when a serious quality problem needed to be solved. Over the course of his professional life, he earned four patents, and his reputation for integrity and excellence was so strong that DuPont hosted a retirement dinner for him—a rare honor for someone who did not work for the company.

His family remembered him as a man who lived by a simple standard: “always doing the right thing.”
Howard passed away November 16, 2015 at age 89 in Greensboro.