Verna Elizabeth (Woodward) Bell, 94, of Sweet Home, Oregon passed away Friday, June 14, 2019. She was born in Overton, Nebraska to Merritt Ord Woodward and Vivian Lenore (Carpenter) Woodward. Verna was the second of their ten children and had an older half brother and sister for a total of eleven siblings.

In 1929, due to the depression, Verna, her older sister, two younger brothers, and half brother and sister moved with her family to Tilley, Alberta Canada in search of a better economy. Her dad grew corn and other grains on a quarter section of ground.

Verna’s mother and father had a goal for all of their children to receive a high school education. In Canada, there was no school beyond the eighth grade, so the family moved back to the US and settled in Nehalem, Oregon.

In 1942, during her senior year of high school, Verna met William F. (Bill) Bell. They were married in Astoria, Oregon on May 20, 1942. By the end of January 1944, the family had grown to four with the addition of two little boys. In June of 1944, Bill Joined the Army and was serving in the Pacific. Verna raised the two boys with the help of family until her husband returned in 1946. The family then moved to Sweet Home, Oregon where her husband was a logger and Verna became a homemaker for her family.

The family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and attended the Sweet Home church all of their lives. Verna was very active in the church, especially in the children’s ministry. She was at one time the president of the church “Primary” and taught, and led worship for children. Verna also had a 24-year career in the Sweet Home schools, starting in the hot lunch program, and then as a kindergarten aid, at Hawthorne and Pleasant Valley elementary schools.

Verna is survived by sons Ted and his wife, Jane, of Damascus, Tom and his wife, Linda, of Albany, and Jack and his wife, Cindy, of Sweet Home;15 grandchildren, 37 great grandchildren, and two great, great grandchildren; sisters Lois (Peggy) Rhodes, and Kay Mosher. Verna was preceded in death by her husband, two oldest sons William G. (Bill) Bell and Robert F.(Bob) Bell; her parents; and siblings Floyd Woodward, Mildred Stewart, Retha Kirby, Lyle Woodward, Jerry Woodward, Charles Woodward, Edward Woodward, Ronald Woodward, and Richard (Dick) Woodward. Above all, Verna loved and enjoyed her very large family.

Viewing will be at noon on Saturday, June 22, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sweet Home. The funeral service will follow at 1:00 p.m. Final burial will be at Gilliland Cemetery. The family has asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made in care of Sweet Home Funeral Chapel to the Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah or Evergreen Hospice.

Sweet Home Funeral Chapel is handling arrangements.