Obituary of Howard Rodes Bell

Howard Rodes Bell, 64, of Coffeyville, Kansas passed away on Friday, April 26, 2019 at CRMC in Coffeyville. Howard was born on August 11, 1954 in Key West, Florida to Gershom Rodes and Florence Gay (Porter) Bell. He was the oldest of five children. He received his high school diploma and went on to attend junior college where he earned a degree in Instrumentation Technology and Engineering. Howard was living in Clear Lake, Texas before moving to Anchorage Alaska. This was a place he cherished and found great joy in the majesty that is Alaska. From there Howard moved back to Houston, Texas but only for a very short time. He then moved to Lake Charles, Louisiana. Finally, Howard moved to Coffeyville, Kansas. Every move Howard made was for work. He was currently working as an Instrumentation Designer for CVR Energy, Inc in Coffeyville. Howard's hobbies were collecting silver coins and following stocks. He and Percy talked nearly every week about various stocks. They followed companies and stocks just for fun. He danced to the beat of his own drum. He was fiercely independent and did not share his life easily. In his younger days, sailing was his primary focus and he worked very hard to be very good. He even raced against a future America's Cup contender. Many of his sailing cohorts called him "Conan the Fore Deck Man". This is because he would single handedly hoist the jib of large sailboat. For most men that was a two-man job. Not for Howard. In spite of being a barrel of a man who was stronger than most men, he had a very tender heart and always looked out for his friends. In one such instance, he saved Angel's life. While participating in a sailboat race the boat had a knockdown and Angel got caught in the ropes (sheets). Howard reached across the boat and with one hand pulled Angel to safety. Howard, Percy and Angel were very good friends who hung out together nearly every single weekend. They would get together on weekends and grill steaks and have Backgammon tournaments that lasted for hours! After Howard moved to Alaska, he invited Percy and Angel to come visit him. He wanted to share his joy in the beauty of Alaska. He arranged for train trips and boat trips and sat back with a smile on his face and watched as his friends discovered the same majesty that he had saying all the while, "I told you that you would love it here". It brought him great joy to see his friends so excited to see the Beluga whales, and other animals native to Alaska. In his later years, he invited his friends, Percy and Angel, to visit him in Lake Charles. Howard insisted on taking them to the Tabasco Plant in Louisiana. He made sure to tell Percy and Angel that the reason he loved Tabasco on his eggs in the morning was because in the MREs that his father would have, they included tiny bottles of Tabasco. His Dad would bring those tiny bottles home and Howard tried it on his eggs and fell in love. Going to the Tabasco Plant was his way of paying homage to his deceased father whom he missed and loved. Although Howard was not an easy man to know, he was cherished by his friends and family who are in deep mourning over his loss. May he rest in peace. Howard is survived by his sisters, Marte Bell, Huntsville, Texas; Kathryn Bell Chastine(Kathy) and husband Jerry Chastine, Huntsville, Texas; nieces, Meaghan Carter(daughter of Marte Bell) and Leah Smith (daughter of Liz); nephews, Josh Smith (son of Liz), Matthew Chastine (stepson of Kathy and son of Jerry) and his wife Courtney of Huntsville, Texas and special friends: Percy and Angel (Angela) Thompson, John and Yvonne Farrell. He was preceded in death by his parents Gershom and Florence Bell; brother, Harold Bell and sister, Helen Elizabeth Bell(Liz). A Celebration of Life Service will be held in June 2019 in Katy, Texas.