Captain Mary Bell, Army

Mary Julia Bell, ne Burnett, was the seventh child of ten born in Flores, Uruguay on October, 6, 1937 to Juan Allen Burnett and Julia Eva Chaves.  Her family had lived in Uruguay since 1830 shortly after they won their independence from Spain. When she was 21 she traveled to London, England to enroll at one of the Queen Mary hospitals to become a registered nurse.  Upon graduation in 1962, she had two offers of employment:  Nyack, New York and Sydney, Australia.  She chose the US offer because the hospital offered to sponsor her visa and paid for her passage to come to the US.  She came with $300!  Mary completed her courses at Columbia University for the American nursing license.  She would have a 46-year career in which she practiced all kinds of nursing.

After completing her obligation in Nyack, she decided to move to Los Angeles.  One day while walking in LA she saw the poster of Uncle Sam that said, “Uncle Sam Wants You.”  She answered that call and served in the US Army as a registered nurse at the Presidio in San Francisco. She volunteered to go to Vietnam because she wanted to help all those young men that were drafted and didn’t have a choice.  There she was the chief nurse for one of the Army Field Hospitals in Saigon. 

When she returned to the US she was stationed in Ft. Ord, CA and in 1967 married John Frank Bell, a veteran of the Korean War. After giving birth to Patrick Bell in 1968, she was honorably discharged because women were not allowed to have children and remain in the military.  She gave birth to Kathleen Mary Bell in 1969. She considered her time in the US Army as the time she felt most helpful and fulfilled in her profession.  John died in 1977, leaving her a young widow to raise two children on her own.  During her life she traveled to five of the seven continents and lived in three countries. She lived the longest time –32 years—in Florida, until moving to Winchester in August, 2012. 

Throughout her life her strong faith sustained her and she was always active in her church community whether it was serving as youth group president, vice president of the women’s group or making soup for the homeless.  She was a remarkable woman, nurse and mother.  Survivors include: Her daughter Kathleen Bell of Winchester, VA; her son Patrick Bell of Miami, FL; her sisters Rosa Burnett of Delray Beach, FL, and Clara March of New South Wales, Australia; her niece Michele Haase Macerelli of Canonsburg, PA, and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews throughout Australia, Europe and North and South America.

Friends and family are invited to share a memory and sign her guestbook below.