Obituary: Former Sailor succumbs to leukemia

Don Cantrell

Jack Bell, a Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Famer and a one-time CIF

Southern Section diver under swim coach Al Irwin at Newport Harbor High,

died Wednesday of leukemia. He was 69.

Bell, born in Texas, was raised in Costa Mesa with his younger

brother, Rex, another early-day CIF diver and swimmer at Newport Harbor.

Bell, who teamed with Clint Eastwood as a U.S. Army lifeguard at the

Fort Ord, Calif., swimming pool in 1952, earned numerous honors after he

was later shipped to Korean front lines. Aside from earning any number of

combat honors, he was eventually elevated to a platoon-leading tech

sergeant on the battlefield commission in ’53. He was once nominated for

the Silver Star.

He was a fleet-footed halfback on the sterling ’49 varsity grid team

under Irwin. The team had an 8-1 record and scored 323 points in one

regular season.

Some teammates recall a time against Orange when he told the

quarterback, “Give me the ball. I’ll score.” And he did.

He had also shined in track and field during his prep years, with his

best event coming in low hurdles.

In addition, he and his brother, being specialists in gymnastics,

served as cheerleaders one year at Newport. They both could perform

exciting leaps, spins and twists.

He and his brother also served once as lifeguards for Newport Beach.

They were often praised by lifeguard chiefs as outstanding members of the

summer staff.

Bell, with amusement, once recalled a day when he found his lifeguard

tower shaking. He looked down to observe the problem and discovered it

was former grid teammate John Kingston. “Boy, he was strong,” Bell said.

“And he was laughing the whole time.”

He graduated from Harbor in ’50 and later attended Orange Coast

College after the army.

He once chose to try his skills at other water sports, like paddling

the heavy-duty outriggers in Hawaii. He always enjoyed the challenges of

such sports.

Some of his fun days in the army came working with and around

Eastwood, who would, in time, become a silver-screen icon. Bell said he

always admired Eastwood, but noted “he could become a prankster

sometimes. And sometimes I would run a few pranks back at him.”

Bell said, “I once turned Clint’s way and asked, ‘Clint, what are you

going to do when you get out of the army?’ And he replied, ‘I’m going to

go into the movies.’ That really made me laugh, but years later there he

was starring in the movies.

“Clint was a hard worker and always took care of any pool problems.

One day, I told him the army had to fix the mat, the high diving board,

or I might slip in demonstrations. He nodded, but the next morning he was

up there fixing the board for me.”

In his last years, Bell had become a successful salesman of golf

clubs. He played himself and occasionally entered tournaments.

He and his wife, Betsy, had earned many friends over the years in the

harbor area and often attended varied reunions.

Before his father came to Costa Mesa to manage a food market, he and

Rex had lived in Santa Ana and San Pedro.

Bell, who died at Hoag Hospital, is survived by his wife and five

children: Sons Rick, Scott and Mike, and daughters Jane and Jaki.

A celebration of Bell’s life will be held Sunday at Rose Hills Harbor

Lawn in Costa Mesa at 1 p.m.