2LT John L. Bell

1894 – 1980

USAR

WWI

John Larkins Bell was born October 30, 1894 in Patton, Pennsylvania to Lincoln S. and Annie Larkins Bell.

Bell was a college student at Penn State when he enlisted as a Private in the U.S. Army on July 19, 1917. His leadership was recognized, as Bell was promoted to Ordinance Sergeant within 4 months, and Second Lieutenant 9 months later. He served a year in France before he was discharged on August 20, 1919.

Lt. Bell married Chicago native Ruth Schaffer in 1927, and they moved to Dundee, where they raised 3 children.

Bell was a landscape architect who became co-owner of Mossley Hill Orchards in Lake Zurich in 1934 as a means to keep his crew busy during the cooler months. In the mid-1950’s he bought out his partner and renamed the property Bell’s Apple Orchard. The family-owned business was regionally known for “pick your own” apples and his wife’s caramel apples.

Second Lieutenant John Bell died April 9, 1982, and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery.

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Remember. Honor. Teach.

Courtesy of Signal Hill Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.