Paulyne Bell

Paulyne was born July 12, 1917 in Gift, Tennessee, a rural community in west Tennessee. She passed away 100 years later on September 11, 2017…can you imagine the many amazing things she witnessed during those 100 years.

She was delivered by her grandfather, the local country doctor, and was the oldest of 6 children born to Fain and Mabel Roby…Aj, Jean, Stanley, Anita, and Grady; she is survived by Grady, a retired Navy Officer.

Paulyne graduated from high school in Covington, TN and went to business college in Memphis. She married her husband, Brooks, in 1936, and they spent the World War II years in Seattle, where their 2 sons, Lester and Kenneth were born. After a short stay on a farm in Arkansas, they moved to St Louis in 1952, where Paulyne became the head bookkeeper at the downtown YWCA for 25 years until her retirement.

When Brooks passed away in 1981, after 45 years of marriage, Paulyne focused her time on church activities, volunteering at a local medical clinic, learning how to play golf, becoming active in local recycling efforts and listening to Jack Buck and the Cardinals on the radio. But in her later years, most of her time was spent cherishing the moments with her grandchildren Andrea, Gary, Stephanie, and Brian, and her great-grandchildren Brendan, Cooper, Lila, Camden, Max, Adelaide, and Connor.

Paulyne was a 50-year breast cancer survivor and always attributed that to God answering her prayers and giving her a positive outlook on life; she was upbeat and resilient with a great sense of humor. She was always very outgoing and willing to help those in need… truly an outstanding example of a Christian lady. She was a lifelong member of the United Methodist Church.

This is not a time for any of us to be sad or depressed, because that’s not the way she lived her life, instead let’s celebrate her life and be thankful that we were blessed to have known her.

Memorials may be made to Susan G. Komen.