Mary Bell

Mary Wright Bell passed away at the age of 76 on May 14 in her home in Colonial Heights, Virginia.

Mary was born on July 7th, 1943 in Richmond, Virginia to William Edwin Land and Mary Wilson Bohanon.  She spent her childhood in Surry, Virginia, where she attended school, before ultimately graduating from Petersburg High School.  She attended The College Of William And Mary, where she was a graduate in the class of 1965.  In 1967, she married Leslie Wright, Jr. (deceased 1 May 2010).  From 1967 until the 1970s, she taught English in the Northern Neck area of Virginia. In the late 1980s and early 1990s she was employed by Plainwell Public Schools in Plainwell, Michigan. From 1995 until her retirement in 2013 she worked at The Elliott Law Firm in Colonial Heights, Virginia. In 2013, she married Kenneth Bell.  Mary was a dedicated member of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, where she held the position of register and was a member of the choir and altar guild.  She was a faithful and devoted friend, wife, mother, sister, and daughter.

She is survived by her husband, Kenneth Bell, her son Leslie Swift Wright III, and her cousins Susan Bruce, Robert Williams, Thomas Williams, Carter Hardenbergh, Betsy Lewis, Caroline Whalen, Henry Carter Land, Charles Edwards Land, Suzanne Georgel, Anne Gwaltney, Bo Bohanon, Frances Smith, and Charles "Van" Hardenbergh. She is preceded in death by her brother Edwin Carter Land, first husband Leslie Swift Wright Jr., and cousin Hall Hardenbergh.

Memorial services are to be announced at a later date, and interment will be in the Memorial Garden at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church.

In lieu of flowers, donations to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or the Colon Cancer Research And Prevention Fund are requested.