A Life Worth Remembering: Thomasina 'Ina' Bell

Surviving war-torn Glasgow, Scotland, during World War II gave Thomasina Bell a rare perspective on life.

“Back when the recession began in 2008, I asked my mom what she thought,” said her son, Gordon Bell, of Fort Wayne, IN. “She said, ‘Do you have machine guns on the roof?’ ‘Are you putting signs on the backs of your children and sending them away to be safe?’ “

 “That was one of the little glimpses of what she experienced as a young girl during the war,” Bell said.

Mrs. Bell, of Tinley Park, died Oct. 31 after a short battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 88.

As a young girl in Glasgow, Mrs. Bell was a journeyman glass grinder for the British war effort. She made lens for telescopes and other optical equipment for the British Navy.

She also belonged to the Scottish equivalent of the USO and one night shared a meal with a group of Royal Canadian sailors stationed in Glasgow. One of them was a sailor named James Bell.

“We don’t know who winked at whom,” said her son. “But before long they were in love.”

A couple of years after the war ended, Mrs. Bell was allowed to immigrate to Canada by way of New York.

“The trip took two weeks because the ship was on the lookout for sea mines that had been laid during the war,” her son said.

The Bells settled in Winnipeg, Canada, before moving to Oak Park and eventually Tinley Park.

“Dad said they needed a house, so they started driving south until they found a home they could afford,” Bell said. “That was in Tinley Park.”

 “Tinley Park had 500 residents when we arrived in 1959,” said her daughter, Geri McManus, of Tinley Park.

Mrs. Bell worked for several years as a part-time waitress, said her son.

“She worked at Valley View Farm in Frankfort, Chuck Cavalinni’s in Midlothian and the Farmer’s Daughter in Orland Park,” said her son. “I even followed her into the business as a busboy.”

Later in life, Mrs. Bell became well known in Tinley Park for Nana’s Kitchen, a tradition her family started of baking cookies for Christmas.

“We even keep the kids out of school for a couple of days while we do nothing else but bake cookies,” said McManus. “It all started because my daughter wanted to bake cookies for her Sunday school class.”

Mrs. Bell was a dedicated parishioner at .

She was a volunteer with the church’s Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) program at the church for 21 years, and helped out at the Vacation Bible School.

Mrs. Bell had a variety of interests from crocheting to cooking to making Barbie clothes for her daughters and granddaughters.

“If she had a thought, she would do it,” said her daughter Sheila Johnson, of New Lenox.

“She had suitcases for all her passions,” said McManus. “She was in the midst of reupholstering a foot stool when she died. That case is still open on her table.” Other cases held her tools for such tasks as sewing, baking, crocheting and upholstery.

Being from Scotland, Mrs. Bell loved High Tea.

“Our last outing was Oct. 16 to the Pickwick Society Tea Room in Frankfort,” said McManus. “We had tea and scones. She loved it.”

Other survivors include a sister, Mazie Barnes, of Glasgow; grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Services through have been held.

Memorials in Mrs. Bell’s name should be sent to Parkview Christian Church MOPS or the Military Order of the Purple Heart.