Jeanette Louise (Egeston) Bell

Jeanette’s Journey……
……began April 17, 1928 in Tupelo, Arkansas. This beautiful baby girl was born to
Maude & Haywood Egeston, the fourth of seven children. They named her Jeanette
Louise.  Jeanette accepted Christ and was baptized at an early age and served God
faithfully all her life. One of her signature “sermonettes” was ‘a disobedient child only
lives half his days…’ Jeanette responded to the beckoning of God on Thursday
morning, April 11, 2024, just 6 days before her 96th birthday.
Jeanette was a hard worker. Picking cotton, stripping sorghum in her words, since the
age of six. Barry and I were always intrigued by the stories about her work in the
country, that no one else seemed to experience. Her point was that she was a hard
worker, and she was.
Jeanette moved from the country to Little Rock at the age of 19 where she lived with her
Uncle and Aunt, John & Pearl Arrington. She attended Junior College in Tennessee for
a short time, and returned to Little Rock, where she worked at the Baptist Hospital
which was located on High Street at the time, She later moved to Chicago, where she
and her older sister Beulah lived together, and she continued her work at the Hospital,
this time Chicago’s Cook County Hospital. The county required their employees to retire
at 65, so reluctantly, she retired in 1993 after 35 years of dedicated service. Her sister
Beulah helped her raise her children, Sabrina & Barry and later her nephew, Lemuel.
She and Beulah shared a residence until Beulah's death in 2002.
Jeanette attended the St. John MB Church in Chicago for a short time, and later joined
the Green Grove MB Church #2, under the pastorate of Rev. Clifford Bolden. She
worshipped there faithfully until she relocated to Little Rock in 2020 where she joined
during the Pastorate of Pastor Virgil L. Taylor, Sr. under “watch care”." Mother Bell" as
she was affectionately known, attended faithfully until her health no longer
permitted. After she was no longer able to attend church, physically, she believed that
every day was “Sunday” and read her bible faithfully.
Jeanette is preceded in death by her parents, Maude & Haywood Egeston, siblings
John L , William, Beulah, Sammie, TJ, and her son, Barry. She leaves to cherish her
memory, her daughter, Sabrina Taylor (Virgil, Sr.), brother Mitchell, nephew Lemuel; four
grandchildren, Azizah, Virgil, Jr., Jasmine & Cameron; 13 great-grandchildren, two
nieces, eight nephews, and numerous families and her beloved neighbor Mother Ozell
Taylor; goddaughters/caregivers Jackie Williams (Chicago, IL), Tabitha Cummins, Delia Reed. A special heartfelt "Thank You" to the staff at Springs, John Barrow Nursing and Rehab Center, who cared for Mother Jeanette as if she was their mother, the Hospice Homecare Staff, and Pulaski County Detention center who made the last weeks and ultimate transition bearable.

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