January 21, 1945 in Colon, Panama Estella and James K. Clarke welcomed their daughter Lydia Amanda Clarke into the world.  In 1955, she was blessed when her parents brought her and her siblings Jilma and Anselmo to Brooklyn, New York.  The opportunity to live in the United States was the opportunity of a lifetime.

Lydia attended Saint Gregory the Great Catholic School and Bishop McDonnell Memorial High School in Brooklyn.  She furthered her education at Kingsborough Community College where she studied nursing.  That career path allowed her to work in public and private facilities in New York and, later, in North Carolina.  The majority of her nursing career was spent providing private home care for her patients, which she thoroughly enjoyed.

On June 5, 1965, she married the love of her life, William McClease Bell, Jr.  Their marriage lasted 54 years until her untimely death.  Her hobbies were working, traveling, and watching HSN.  Lydia was an excellent homemaker and a wonderful parent to her two sons, Billy and Chad.  She got much joy from her grandchildren.

She had a passion for traveling.  She wanted to visit as many continents as possible.  She had already traveled to various countries in Europe, Africa, South America, and Asia.  Most recently, she enjoyed two weeks in Australia.  There she checked another continent off her bucket list.  On her way back home, on the airplane headed to Raleigh, the angels decided to take her to the ultimate continent of all.  The angels gave her wings, and her spirit soared to heaven.

Today, as we celebrate the life of Lydia Clarke Bell, she is reuniting with her parents, brother, relatives and friends that predeceased her.  She leaves to mourn her husband William, her sons Billy (Michelle), Chad (Andrea), her stepson Collin Figueroa (Kimberly), her grandchildren Leah, London, Adanya, Amir, Andre, Crystal, and Justin.  Sister Jilma Clarke-Shackleford (Roger), sister-in-laws Gail Bell-Baptiste (Michael Aquino) and Janet Bell-Boney, nieces Leah Aiysha and Erika, nephews Trevor, Terrence, Joshua; cousins Lenny Bell (Cora), Ray Griffin (Linda), Jean Robinson, Eustace and Cecelia Kelly, Roberto Everidge, Cecelia McFarland, Minerva Kelly, and Ingrid Cordona; god-brothers Andrew and Ethan Loney; lifelong friends Joan Faltene, Elena Prout, Marva Williams, Sandra Truell, and Ruth Wright—and a host of others who loved Lydia.  May she rest in God's hands until we meet again.

A funeral service will be held at noon on Monday, December 23, 2019 at Berean Baptist Church of Raleigh, 2400 E Millbrook Rd., Raleigh, NC, 27604, with entombment to follow in the Chapel of Memories at Montlawn Memorial Park.