From his obituary published in The Alliance Weekly November 20, 1957
Rev. John Davis Bell, representative of the Home Department of The Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) for work among African Americans, was called into the Lord’s presence on September 29. A man with a great passion for evangelism and world-wide missions, Mr. Bell pursued his work faithfully and courageously, with a devout love for God and for the people he served.
Mr. Bell was born in Arkansas in 1889 and was converted to Christ at an early age. He became affiliated with the C&MA in 1917 when he joined Smoot Memorial Church in Cleveland, Ohio. In his youth he found the great value of prayer and meditation, and it was in the atmosphere of prayer that he felt the call to the Christian ministry. Subsequently, he left his job in the post office at Cleveland and started out in faith. Among the pastorates he held were the Peter Robinson Tabernacle, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Smoot Memorial Church, Cleveland, Ohio; and St. John’s Baptist Church, Lake Lure, North Carolina.
He founded the Lincoln Beach Camp at New Kensington, Pennsylvania, and the Collette Memorial Camp at High Point, North Carolina, and also organized an annual Fourth of July young people’s rally in Pittsburgh.
He was president of the Evangelical Holiness and Missionary Association at Thomasville, North Carolina. He also wrote two booklets: My Vision and Prayer. God greatly used His servant to encourage the churches in their work for the Lord. His humble and sacrificial life is an example and heritage to those who follow.
Mr. Bell was stricken suddenly with kidney trouble while returning from ministry to his home at Lake Lure, North Carolina. His wife, the former Miss Alberta Williams, whom he married in 1910, died in 1956. They had five children.
Funeral services for Mr. Bell were held on October 5, 1957, in the Antioch Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio, the Smoot Memorial Church being too small to accommodate the crowds who attended. The service was conducted by Rev. Howard O. Jones, pastor of the Smoot Memorial Church, and Rev. Charles Williams of New Kensington, Pennsylvania. Rev. D. C. Kopp, superintendent of the Western Pennsylvania District, brought the message. Tributes were given by other Alliance pastors and from those of other denominations. Music was supplied by the Smoot Memorial Church choir.