William Louis Bell

William L. “Bill” Bell, 84, of Vancouver, Washington died Saturday, May 11, 2019. A memorial graveside service will be held on Saturday, May 25, 2019 at 1 p.m. at the Condon Cemetery. He was born February 6, 1935 at Long Beach, California. Bill spent his early years in the Los Angeles, and Ontario, California areas. The family moved to Fossil, Oregon in November of 1947. He graduated from Wheeler County High School in 1953. On December 18, 1954 he married Sharon Lee Tufts in Fossil. During their 64 years of marriage, Bill and Sharon lived in Monmouth, and Eugene, Oregon, Carson, Washington, The Dalles, Salem and Wilsonville, Oregon. The couple had two children, Brian and Jodi. Bill entered Law Enforcement in 1957 and served as a police officer and sergeant on The Dalles Police Department. He was a 1967 graduate of the 80th session of The FBI National Academy in Washington, D.C., and in 1968 he was appointed and subsequently elected to the office of Wasco County Sheriff. Bill resigned as Sheriff in 1971 to become a member of the Oregon Board on Police Standards and Training (BPST), forerunner to the Oregon Department of Public Safety, Standards and Training (DPSST). He attended University of Oregon and graduated from Oregon College of Education in 1977. Bill retired from BPST in 1988 and worked the last 10 years of his professional career as a security director for First Interstate Bank of Oregon and as Northwest Regional Security Manager for Key Bank, retiring in 1998. Memberships include, life member of The Oregon State Sheriffs’ Association and the Oregon Peace Officers Association. Bill was a United States Army Veteran. Survivors include, his wife Sharon, daughter, Jodi, son, Brian, daughter in law Pam, 6 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren. Memorial contributions may be made in his name to the Wounded Warrior Project, PO Box 758517, Topeka, Kansas 66675, or to Shriners Hospital for Children, 3101 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, Oregon 97201.

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