In Loving Memory of our Beloved

Mary Anne Bell

April 09, 1935 – July 05, 2025

Beloved Wife, Mother, Grandmother, Sister, and Friend Mary Anne Bell, 90, entered peaceful and eternal rest on Saturday morning July 05, 2025 in El Paso, Texas. She is lovingly survived by her sons, Mark Johnson, Steven Johnson, James Johnson, Scott Johnson; granddaughters Jennifer, Nicole, Tiffany, Jazmin, Patrisha, Mary Anne; grandsons Aaron, DJ, Chris; living sister Diane (Mattern) Coffin and eleven great grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her beloved parents Earl and Mathilda Mattern, siblings Doris, Maynard, Robert and David and loving husband

Homer R. Bell.

Mary Anne was born and raised  on a small farm in Sherwood, North Dakota on April 09, 1935. She was the third youngest of six children—three brothers and two sisters—from Earl and Mathilda Mattern. After graduating from high school, she left the farm and moved with her girlfriend Nina to Washington where she met and married her first husband Mark E. Johnson—a warrant officer in the US Army.   They had four boys and were stationed in San Pedro, California, Long Island, New York, Italy  and finally Fort Bliss in 1968.  She divorced Mark and got re-married to Homer Bell in 1977. Mary Anne worked as a cosmetologist at Gunning-Casteel Drugstore at RushFair in Northeast El Paso and Revco Drug store on McCrae Boulevard for twenty years. Her physical and spiritual beauty and glowing personality endeared her to coworkers and customers alike.

Mary Anne’s greatest joy and love in life was being a nurturing mother to her four boys and a loving grandmother. She never missed a birthday, graduation, school play, tennis match or baseball game. She was an amazing cook who poured her heart into preparing delicious, wholesome meals from scratch for her family and friends that fostered well-being and strengthened family bonds, especially during Christmas and Thanksgiving. Like the Rock of Gibraltar, the love for her children was deeply rooted, unwavering, and unconditional to the very end.

Mary Anne touched countless lives with her outer and inner beauty, kindness, compassion, and authenticity. Her legacy is woven into the hearts of all who had the privilege of knowing her, and the cherished memories she leaves behind will continue to inspire and uplift.

Private (Family) Hour will be Friday, July 18, 2025 from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Public Viewing from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and Rosary Service at 1:00 p.m. at San Jose Funeral Home-East, 10950 Pellicano

Dr., 79935 (915) 590-8700. Interment will follow at Ft Bliss National Cemetery, 5200 Fred Wilson Ave, 79906.