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Born in Kyle, Texas, in the midst of the Depression to a schoolteacher mom and a truck driver dad, Arch Allen Bell grew up with a healthy respect for rolling up one’s sleeves and getting the job done.
The Thibodaux resident died March 7 from complications following a stroke on Father’s Day 2015.
Early on, Arch learned the value of an education – his mother Kathryn, who attended grade school with classmate Lyndon B. Johnson, taught school for 42 years. From his father Herbert, he learned the value of a dollar and the honor in a hard day’s work. As a youngster, he often accompanied his dad on deliveries. Herbert traveled the area, providing oil to neighboring farms.
On one trip with dad, Arch, then 4, met his future sweetheart and wife of 59 years, Mary Margaret Bell.
Young Arch learned to make most of his own toys using found and discarded objects, according to his daughter, Robin Bell. He also learned to sew, a skill shared by his grandmother, a former educator and seamstress who taught Arch the importance of exact measurements and “the difference between homemade and handmade,” Robin said in her father’s eulogy.
“My dad was from that generation that understood how important it was to take care of what you have,” she said. “And how, when something breaks, you fix it.”
An eager learner and charismatic sort with a broad smile, an infectious laugh and a compassionate nature, Arch was a popular student and a talented athlete. In high school, he excelled in football and baseball. His six-man football team won state in 1950 or 1951, Robin said, an unheard of feat for a small Texas school.
When Robin and her brother Robert opened their dad’s bank security box after his death, they found his Babe Ruth Little League awards for sportsmanship among his treasures.
Each year, classmates voted Arch Mr. Buda High School. A town over, Mary Margaret was matching her sweetheart step by step. The popular cheerleader reigned as Miss Kyle High School.
Two years into his business studies at Southwest Texas University, Arch joined the army and left for Korea. The experience, Robin said, ignited a love for new things and foreign travel.
When Arch returned to the states after military service, he married Mary and took a sales job with Laughlon Supply Company. His affable personality was a perfect fit for sales. In no time, Arch found his stride in the industry.
He would soon move to a new company, Global Marine, and accept a perfect assignment for a Depression-born country boy with wanderlust in his heart. He was headed to West Africa.
“Dad was pretty adventurous even though Mom wasn’t,” Robin said. “It took some real convincing to get her to move.”
The youngest of three girls, the small-town gal didn’t want to leave her parents, and with a 6- and 4-year-old, she wasn’t excited to travel across the globe. “Dad kept telling her it would not be forever, and she finally agreed,” Robin said.
The plan was for Arch to go to West Africa and get everything set up. He’d send for Mary and the kids later. But shortly after arriving, a Civil War broke out. Fearing West African rebels would take claim to the rigs, Arch led an effort to move the equipment off the coast. For the next six months, he was incommunicado with his family in Texas.
“Mom finally got a call one day from the Houston, and the company said he was OK and flying into Austin,” Robin said.
The bearded man they met at the airport had completely changed: It had been eight months since he’d last shaved or had a hair cut. “We didn’t even recognize him,” Robin said. “Our first stop that day was at a barbershop.”
Arch later revealed that he and a reporter had escaped rebel attacks by commandeering a canoe and paddling down a river back to the boats where the rigs were still loaded. The company took notice of Arch’s bravery and dedication and he quickly climbed his way to the top.
Future assignments read like a travelogue in history. The Bells were in Tehran, Iran in the Seventies when the Shah was unseated. Then it was on to Perth, Australia for almost five years, followed by another stop in Africa, England, Scotland and India.
“Dad was a great communicator,” Robin said. “He loved and respected all people. And with his great personality, he was well loved by them. He was monumental in negotiating drilling contracts with leaders and kings.”
Early retirement bought the Bells a final ticket home. Arch’s short-lived hiatus was interrupted when a friend called asking him to help set up a supply base in Morgan City. It required a Louisiana move, which eventually landed the Bells in Thibodaux.
At 65, when Arch retired for good, his attention turned to his family and the family’s place of worship, First United Methodist Church. Ever a craftsman, Arch built many of the items that are used to this day at the church’s annual Pumpkin Patch and Country Store.
“My Dad taught me what a good Christian man looks like,” Robin said. “His goodness and selflessness were legendary. He was a doer, and he did for everybody. If there was a need, he filled it. It didn’t matter what it was … your car or your business, whatever he needed to do to help you out, he did it. That was his story throughout his life.” •
Arch Bell built more than 12,000 frames from repurposed fences and wood he collected. The frames, a few of which are pictured at his daughter Robin Bell’s Royal Street gallery in New Orleans, now hang in homes and businesses all over the world.
