Mary Jean "Tangerine" Bell

Poet, art-lover, wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, friend, and rebel - the queen of spontaneity - Newark resident Mary Jean “Tangerine” Bell (nee Caldwell) passed away peacefully during her afternoon nap on Nov. 2, 2022, at the age of 99. She had been planning her 100 ½ birthday party that very morning! Born Feb. 22, 1923 in Hillsboro, Ohio, Mary Jean was the daughter of Lewis and Nellie Caldwell. She met the love of her life, James F. Bell, at Wilmington College, Ohio. They married in 1942, shortly before Jim was deployed with the US Coast Guard. Over the course of their 62-year marriage, Jim’s work as an aerospace engineer led them to live in more than twenty homes in a dozen states, and also Toronto, Canada. Mary Jean dropped out of college to marry Jim, but later went on to earn an MA from St. John’s College Graduate Institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Writing, especially poetry, was one of her other great loves. Mary Jean was a founding member of Tomoka Poets in Florida. It was there that she took the name Tangerine Tell (later Tangerine Bell) as a pen name. She published her collected poems, Tangerine: Poems at 94, just a few years ago. Mary Jean was predeceased by her husband, James F. Bell, her daughter Sarah Johanna (Bell) Kitchin, and her two younger brothers, John L. Caldwell and Charles W. Caldwell. She is survived by her children Constance Lindgreen (Peter), Sam Bell (Ellie), and Alice Dearden (Jim), as well as seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Gail Friedline has been like another daughter to Tangerine. Her family is grateful for the care she received at Friends Home, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, and Paramount Senior Living at White Chapel, Newark, Delaware. Special thanks to Dot at Friends Home, Tina and Cora at Paramount, and Colleen and the hospice team at Seasons Care. We thank her Jehovah’s Witness friends for their kindness to her. Celebration of Life to be held at Newark Senior Center, 200 White Chapel Dr., on Nov. 12, 2022, at 11 a.m. Masks are optional, but we do ask you to consider the health of elderly and other potentially vulnerable attendees. Bright colors are welcome!

Mary Jean "Tangerine" Bell

February 22, 1923 - November 2, 2022

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