Arthur B. Bell, 81, a 15-year resident of Oak Harbor, died at Careage of Whidbey on August 11, 2005, following a lengthy illness.

Mr. Bell was born to Harrison A. Bell and Mary (Kinion) Bell in Terlton, Okla., on Feb. 8, 1924. He was raised on a farm in Terlton, where his father was a foreman for the Sinclair Oil Co. pipeline. On Oct. 7, 1943, he married Ruth Louise McAvoy in Los Angeles.

Arthur entered the U.S. Navy in 1940, right after finishing tenth grade in high school, and served until the end of World War II. He was a Pearl Harbor Survivor, having served aboard the USS Argonne. From Pearl Harbor, he went to San Francisco, and then to Farragut, Idaho. He served as an instructor at prison camps with German and Italian prisoners and U.S. military court marshal detainees. He trained military confinees to receive honorable discharges.

After being honorably discharged in Idaho, he moved to Tulsa, Okla., where he was employed by Sherwin-Williams Paint Co. as a stock clerk. He then moved to Los Angeles, where he received his high school diploma from Belmont High School after three and one-half months. He attended South Western University in Los Angeles and then UCLA, becoming a Licensed Public Accountant (P.A.). He worked for an insurance company, and then RUART (his own company). Art moved to Sacramento, where he worked for a CPA firm, then for Trans America Inc., and then College Greens Development Co. as a construction accountant for 18 years. He then was employed by Jackson Masonry Co. as an accountant until 1990, at which time he and Ruth moved to Oak Harbor. He was a member of St. Augustine’s Catholic Church and the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association.

Art is survived by his son Richard A. Bell and wife Kitty of Oak Harbor; daughter Katrina L. Piazza and husband Dana of Washington, D.C.; five grandchildren, Dustin Bell and wife Lee Anne of Bothell, Janice Wrhel and husband Christian of Pt. Townsend, and Kristin, Jennifer and Stephanie Piazza, all of Washington, D.C.; two great grandchildren, Alexander and Gabriel Bell of Bothell; two brothers, David C. Bell of Colorado and Walter Bell

Robinson of Vancouver, Wash. He was preceded in death by his wife Ruth on Jan. 13, 1999.

In keeping with his wishes, no service will be held. Private inurnment will take place next to his wife at Maple Leaf Cemetery. Arrangements were entrusted to direction of Burley Funeral Chapel.