Wanda Bell

Wanda Louise Bell

August 25, 1943-October 30, 2025

Wanda Bell died peacefully at her daughter’s home, surrounded by her daughter Georgia Barnhart and son-in-law Jared Barnhart after surviving hereditary pulmonary fibrosis for over 25 years. However, her illness was not what took her from us. She passed away from a broken heart only four and a half months after losing the love of her life, her husband of 44 years, George F. Bell.

Wanda was the only daughter of Harold Galloway and Grace (Bishoff) Galloway. She was born in Marietta, Ohio on August 25, 1943. When she was very young, her family moved to Sandusky, Ohio where she grew up, living and thriving in a little development called McAuther Park. She spoke very fondly of wonderful memories she made there with other children in the neighborhood. My mother was very proud to be a member of the very first graduating class of Perkins High School. She graduated from her alma mater in 1961. She went on to attend Bowling Green University.

My mother was a wonderful actress and had an immense love of the theater. She starred in plays at Perkins High School, Bowling Green University, as well as with a theater group in Sandusky, The Harlequins, now called The Harlequins Sandusky Community Theater Group. Wanda started in “Seventeenth Summer” at Perkins High School in 1960, “The Graduation Present,” All the Kings Men,” “We Shook the Family Tree,” A Far Country” with the Harlequins, as well as “An Italian Straw Hat” with Bowling Green University.

While attending Bowling Green University she met my brother’s father. My mother became pregnant with my brother while attending Bowling Green and moved to Washington D.C. in 1963 to give birth on her own. She had my brother, Farrar Fitzgerald Galloway, on February 5, 1964. She was a single mother and moved back home to Sandusky to be closer to her parents when he was very young.

My mother, Wanda, was a very gifted writer, as was her father, Harold Galloway. She began working for The Sandusky Register in 1967 as a writer for the newspaper. When she left to move to Naples, Florida, she had earned the position of “Young Horizons Editor.” She was a writer for The Golden Gate Gazette from 1969 to 1973, earning the position of “Managing Editor” for the Gazette. She also wrote for the Naples Daily News and was the “Woman’s Editor” for this newspaper. The final newspaper she wrote for was The Naples Star, where she earned the position of “Our Town Editor.”

My mother was an amazing woman who had unsurmountable determination. During a time when women were not writers for newspapers and weren’t able to make it past fetching coffee for their male counterparts, my mother was writing for four different newspapers. She was being promoted to editor positions, taking those positions from the more respected men. Wanda Louise (Galloway) Bell was a trailblazer. She refused to let anything stop her from achieving her goals. She was a single mother when that concept was unheard of. She was a reporter when that was considered a male only profession. She was a hero to women she worked alongside her and all of us who came after her.

In 1980, my mother met the love of her life, George Frances Bell. My father was a manager at PJ’s, a restaurant in Naples, where my mother worked as a waitress after she found it unaffordable to support herself and her son as a reporter on a salary that was a quarter of what her male coworkers were being paid. This is where she gained the nickname “Wicked Wanda”. She was a woman out of time, as she was strong, independent, and a single mother to Farrar well before women were permitted to be any of these things.

Wanda and George, were married on February 14, 1981, and welcomed their first daughter, Georgia Grace, into the world on January 9, 1982. The happy couple had a second daughter, Molly Ann, on May 9, 1984, after moving to Boston, Massachusetts. There George was hired at the United States Post Office and transferred to a USPS location in Canton, Ohio in 1988. They moved to Akron, Ohio in 2003 where they lived happily together until George passed away on June 8, 2025.

My mother attempted to remain on her own until she was admitted to the hospital at the beginning of July with bronchitis and pneumonia. Upon leaving the hospital, Wanda and her five kitties moved in with her daughter, Georgia and son-in-law, Jared Barnhart. Her five kitties, Fritzi, Kia, Pickles, Willy, and Beauty remain with them to this day. She was placed in hospice before being discharged from the hospital but was in very high spirits. Not a day went by that my mother did not make us laugh. She was the silliest person I have ever met. I could regal everyone with stories of her silliness, but I will save those for her memorial. She was and always will be “My Silly Mum.”

My mum was a devoted wife and spectacular mother. Even if I had an opportunity to choose my mother, I would have chosen her over, and over, again. My daddy always called her “My Bride” to the kids, to his co-workers, to his friends, and to our family. Many didn’t know her as anything else. My mom and dad shared 44 beautiful years of marriage and when my dad passed away on June 8, 2025, my mom did not know how to go on without him. She fell into a depression that only those who have lost the love of their lives will ever begin to comprehend. However, even in the depths of her depression, she still smiled. She still laughed, she still sang and was sillier than anyone else I have ever known. She was also one of the most stubborn people to have ever graced this earth. It was a strong tie between her and my dad at times, yet they always complained about how stubborn the other was. It was frustrating at times and comedic at other times.

When my mom knew the end was near, she took Jared and me aside and told us “Do not cry when I am gone. I have lived the most wonderful life. I have done things others will never get a chance to do and loved so deeply, like others will never feel. I have cherished every moment of my long life and will be happy to be with your dad and brother again. When you are done mourning, pick yourself up and enjoy your life like I have. Love like there is no tomorrow and never take a moment for granted.” When we were done crying, we both promised her we would do as she asked, and as we promised her we would take care of her kitties until they are with her again and love them just like we love our own, because they are our babies now too.

Wanda Louise (Galloway) Bell was proceeded in death by her devoted husband, George Frances Bell; her beloved son, Farrar Galloway; her father and mother, Harold and Grace Galloway; her brother, Oren Galloway; her favorite Aunt, Eva Rich; her special pups, Lady Bug and Pluto; and her special kitties, Tinker Bell and Charles (Charlie); among so many other kitties, puppies, and other creatures that loved her and considered her mom who were waiting to greet her at the Rainbow Bridge when she met them on the other side.

Wanda is survived by her daughter and son-in-law who she considered a second son, Georgia Grace (Bell) Barnhart and Jared Barnhart; her daughter, Molly Ann (Bell) Hernandez; her 8 grandchildren: Romel Bell, Naomi Bell, Micah (Mika) Barnhart, Mario Bell, Ellie Barnhart, Brock Bell, Bryn Bell, and Wyatt Hernandez; as well as her five kitties: Fritzi Fry, Willy, Kia, Pickles, and Beauty who now live with their Aunt Georgia and Uncle Jared.

Words cannot begin to explain how missed Wanda and George are by all who knew them. If you were blessed to meet either of them, you could not help but laugh with them, or at their antics, nor love them. They were amazing kindred souls and the epidemy of storybook grandparents. They were parents, friends, and grandparents that everyone wished, or are so thankful to have.

Jared and I feel so blessed and beyond thankful for the four and a half months that my mom lived with us. We were able to enjoy her company, her laughter, her smile, her silliness, and her stories far more than we ever would have if she had remained in her own home in Akron. We thank God everyday for the memories we were able to make, and now cherish, with her and my dad. They are so terribly missed every moment of every day.

Jared and I ask that in lieu of flowers, please do as my mother did in her last days and make a donation, in any amount, to either an animal shelter in her or both her and my father’s names (her favorite shelter was One of a Kind in Akron) or to a charity such as the Wounded Warrier Project or DAV (Disabled American Veterans) in either her or my father’s name, or both, as my father’s passing was due to his Agent Orange exposure during his time in service to our country during the Vietnam War.