Alice Bell passed peacefully from this world at 99, on August 5. She was born in 1923 to Carrie Cox Bell and John William Bell on a farm outside Sheridan, Indiana with her brother John Dudley Bell and half-sisters Dora Katherine (Walker) and Rosemary (Hockett). Her early years were busy with farm chores such as persuading the laying hens to relinquish their eggs, and voraciously reading.
She attended Earlham College with a stipend from the earnings of her mother's chickens and worked in the campus dining room and laundry, followed by a Master's degree at the University of Wisconsin in 1946.
Alice then taught English at Heidelberg College in Tiffin, Ohio. Here she found that she wanted to obtain a PhD in order to be fully prepared to teach college students.
She then moved to the University of Minnesota, when she began her studies, met Melvin Salo and started a family, and after a pause to raise her children, re-enrolled in 1967. Her college credits expired after 7 years, so she continued as a part-time student until her own children were in college.
She studied the work of Willa Cather, a regional writer who chronicled life on the great plains in the early part of the 20th century. Her thesis on the narrative technique used in the Professor's House was completed in 1986.
She then taught technical writing at the U of M, worked in the private sector as a technical editor, and substitute taught English in the Edina Public Schools.
After her first marriage ended, she met Jim Meyer at an Elderhostel in Pocatello Idaho, and they then married in 1996 and returned to live in Davis, California.
Alice returned to Minneapolis after Jim's death and joined the community at Becketwood. There she chaired the Investment Committee for 9 years, kept a garden, was active in Minneapolis Friends Meeting, and generally behaved. Her calling cards read "Scholar, Grandmother, Stickler."
Alice is survived by her children: Timothy Salo, Cindy Salo, and Jonathan Salo, five grandchildren: Alison Salo, Daniel Salo, Emily Salo Whitworth, Caleb Salo, Grace Salo, and two great-grandchildren: Abbott Salo and Brady Salo
Published on August 7, 2022
