FAIRFIELD, PA– Eunice M. Bell, 83, formerly of Plattsburgh and Ellenburg, NY passed away on Wednesday, December 1, 2021, at Wellspan Hospital in PA.

She was born in Ellenburg on April 2, 1938, the daughter of Samuel and Irene (LaClair) Trombley.

Eunice married Merton F. Bell on November 28, 1959, in St. Edmund's Church in Ellenburg. After 55 years of a beautiful friendship and union, she lost her beloved husband on November 26, 2014. Eunice cherished her family above all else and enjoyed visiting with her children and grandchildren.

She could often be found threading that love into beautiful handmade quilts, all of which she gifted to family to treasure. Her sewing skills could have won awards and earned her a fortune, but she always said her pleasure in it would be lost if done for a living. When not sewing, she could be found curled up with a good book or putting many puzzles together with Mert. Several of those puzzles were framed and can still be found on their children's walls.

Never one to have idle hands, she loved to cook and bake. No one could top her apple pies, baked beans, or Michigan sauce; even her spaghetti sauce had a secret ingredient so it could never be replicated. She and her husband, Mert, would run a Michigan stand at the Ellenburg Center Fire Department Field Day and the line would stretch a mile long.  And when the berries came in season, you better believe Eunice was out picking. Her children can tell you a funny story that involved picking blueberries and a bear!

She had the voice of an angel and loved to sing the day away. It was an equally beautiful sight to see her gliding across the dance floor with Mert, especially when doing the jitterbug.

Eunice loved playing bingo and almost always won the last coverall. When she would enter the bingo hall, you could hear a collective sigh from the masses, everyone knowing the queen winner had arrived.

She worked at the Plattsburgh ribbon mill, was a member of the Ellenburg Center Firemen's Auxiliary and at one time was a bowling league in Chateaugay. On Fridays and Saturdays, you could find her antiquing, trying to find that one perfect item for a room or corner in her immaculate home. And every Sunday, she attended Mass. Her Catholic faith was very important and prominent in her life.

In her younger days, she could handle a team of horses on her childhood farm like no one else. A formidable, wild-hearted spirit, Eunice lives on in our hearts eternally; her family imagining her running free with the horses of her childhood and meeting Mert on the dance floor once again.

Survivors include one son, Lonnie E. Bell and companion Aimee Hicks of Merrill, NY; five daughters, Cheryl and Guy Manor of Black River, NY, Alane and Mose Manor of Mooers Forks, NY, Deanna J. Best of Fairfield, PA, Briana Bell and companion Bob Chesnut of Lexington, NC and Sonja and Jeffrey Moffet of Fulshear, TX; sisters, Marguerite Forrett of Plattsburgh, Eleanor Steady of Port Orange, FL; sister-in-law, June Cook of Chateaugay; brother-in-law, Roosevelt M.B. Jones, JR, of Sacramento, CA; grandchildren, Cassandra and Zachary Pullins, Jennifer and Jon Northrop, Elizabeth and Eric Vazquez, Joshua and Brigitte Manor, Preston Manor, Hallie Manor, Luis Diaz, Jr., Hannah Best, Holly Best, Haley Best, Makenzie Nesbit, Lauren and Michael Weber, Alexis Moffet, Tyler Moffet, Jesus Moffet; 12 great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.

She was predeceased by her parents, her husband, Merton Jr., brother Samuel Trombley, sisters Mildred Barcomb, Raida Chaput, Louva Jones.

Calling hours will be held on Thursday, December 9, 2021 from 4:00 to 6:00 pm at the R. W. Walker Funeral Home.

A Mass of Christian Burial will take place on Friday at 10:00 am at Our Lady of Victory Church in Plattsburgh. Entombment will follow at the Plattsburgh Community Mausoleum.

To share a memory or condolence with the family, please visit www.rwwalkerfh.com.

Arrangements have been entrusted to the R.W. Walker Funeral Home, 69 Court Street, Plattsburgh, NY.