Margaret Dozier Bell
1924 – 2010

DAMARISCOTTA — Margaret Dozier Bell, 85, died peacefully on April 2, at Chase Point Assisted Living.

She was born in Enfield, N.C., in 1924, the daughter of Richard D. Dozier and Mary Aycock Dozier. While working for Western Union in Rocky Mount, she met Donald Bell, a Marine MP from Maine, who was stationed at Camp Lejeune and married him in 1945. She was warmly welcomed by Donald’s large family when they moved back to Maine. She and Don had four children and over the years the family lived in Norway, Auburn, Bath, Manchester and Winthrop, as Don’s career with Central Maine Power required.

She began working as a secretary in the schools when the family lived in Bath. She continued at the Manchester Grammar School and then as secretary to the headmaster at Kents Hill School. While in Manchester, she was very involved with the Manchester Community Church. She was the church treasurer for several years and especially loved working at the fairs, for which she made many craft items. During this time, she made several life-long friendships. Wherever she was, she was involved and engaged, hard working and full of positive energy.

Don and Margaret bought the family farm in South Waterford from Don’s parents and spent countless weekends and vacations there, tending a large garden and the tree farm Don’s father had begun. When not at the farm, Don and she were often at Reid or Popham beaches on the weekends when the children were young. She made beautiful braided rugs, oil paintings and many of her children’s clothes and sweaters. She had a lovely voice and could often be heard singing.

After Don’s death in 1989, she moved near her eldest daughter in Brunswick and lived there for 15 years, before moving to Chase Point Assisted Living in Damariscotta. Her seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren were a source of joy and pride — she loved having the younger ones come and stay with her at her house in Brunswick.

She is survived by son, Steve Bell and wife, Mimi, of Norway; daughter, Sharon Bell and husband, Eugene Bubar, of Brunswick; daughter, Dozier Bell and husband, Ken Greenleaf, of Waldoboro; son, John Bell and wife, Donna Marcotte-Bell, of South Waterford; grandchildren, John Bell and wife, Tami, of Cary, N.C., Tami Ireland and husband, Larry, of Newton, Mass., Matthew Bubar of Woolwich, Margaret (Meg) Bell of Portland and Allie, Mollie and Olivia Bell, of South Waterford; four great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.

She was predeceased by her brother, Richard D. Dozier Jr. of Mt. Morris, Mich.

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