Delores M. Bell

Dolores Marilyn Bell, 94, of Lake Linden, Michigan, passed away peacefully on October 25, 2025, after a period of declining health.

Dolores was born on June 14, 1931, in Waukegan, Illinois, to Leroy and Margeurite Wilson. She grew up in Waukegan and graduated from Waukegan Township High School, where she was honored as the Homecoming Queen her senior year in high school.

She married her high school sweetheart, Robert Wesley Bell on June 3, 1950. Together they shared 75 wonderful years together, building a home, a business and raising four children in Waukegan. Later in life, they built a beautiful family home in Wadsworth, Illinois, and upon retirement, moved to Rabbit Bay in Lake Linden, Michigan.

Dolores worked as a model after graduating from high school and before raising her children. She later worked as a switchboard operator at St. Therese Hospital and served as the Vice President for their family business, Lake Shore Awning Company.

She will be remembered for her deep devotion to her husband and family, her exquisite decorating skills, her elegant sense of style and grace, her love of recipe books and cooking, her affection for celebrating the holidays and the immense joy she found in having a “year-round” seasonal Christmas tree.

Dolores is survived by her husband Robert; her children, Patricia Claar (Roger) of Bolingbrook, Marcia Petrusky (Allan) of Beach Park and Lisa O’Brien (Gary) of Anderson, South Carolina; her daughter in-law, Janice Bell; five grandchildren Lindsey (Claar) Smith, Kaitlin O’Brien, Kyle O’Brien, Kristen (O’Brien) Smoots, and Brian Mulholland; six great grandchildren, a sister-in-law and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, her two sisters, Barbara and Shirley, and her son, Brian Bell.

A private service and celebration of life luncheon (by invitation only) will be held on Saturday, November 1, 2025.

In lieu of flowers, donations to help defray funeral costs and long-term medical bills and care may be made to Robert Bell in Dolores’ s name; donations can be sent to Robert Bell, 115 Concord Lane, Bolingbrook, IL 60440

The family would like to thank Heartland Hospice for their compassionate care during Dolores’s final days and hours.

Dolores Marilyn Bell . . . devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. . . . Forever in our hearts.