Paul Gervais Bell Jr. (1922-2016): Statesman – Patriot – Leader
The memorial service for Paul Gervais Bell, who died on October 31, 2016, held at St. Martins Episcopal Church, was perfect – brief, traditional, and reverent. It reflected his respect for ritual and protocol. The magnificent sanctuary structure added dignity and relevance. It reflects the very best of construction craftwork and construction company leadership, two areas that were of major importance to him throughout his life.
Those of us from the construction industry called him, “Paul;” those from his other walks of life “Gervais.” By whatever name, we all know he was as fine a person as we have ever known, so the church was predictably full. The Right Reverend Pittman McGehee’s eloquent homily, replete with poetry, movie lines and reflecting his Jungian mastery, portrayed Paul as a “fully individuated individual,” a man who achieved “all that he was born to be through baptism,” and, “as one of the Easter People, Paul would move to an afterlife having been a Good Man and Good Leader here.” [node:read-more:link]