Jesse Bell, west suburban teacher who also ran cab company, dies

Jesse Bell taught math and history at elementary schools in Maywood and Broadview while also running a cab company on the side, later operating his own limousine service.

Bell, 90, died of complications from lymphoma Dec. 25 at AccentCare Inpatient Hospice Center in Naperville, said his daughter, Darletta Anderson. He had lived in Aurora since 2008.

Born Jesse James Bell in St. Francisville, Louisiana, Bell moved with his family to New Orleans when he was 4 years old. He received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 1955 from Dillard University in New Orleans, where he played football.

Seeking to start a career in California, Bell moved to Oakland to stay with his aunt but then was drafted into the Army. He served for two years, including 18 months in Germany, where he patrolled the boundary between East Germany and West Germany, his family said.

Bell moved to Chicago to be with his wife, who also attended Dillard University and had begun a nursing career at the University of Illinois Research and Educational Hospitals.

Bell began teaching grade school in Chicago, and in 1961 took a job at Irving Elementary School in Maywood, where he taught math and world history in the sixth through eighth grades and also coached basketball.

“He was always revered by the students that he taught,” said Bob Engram, a longtime friend and fraternity brother in the historically Black fraternity Kappa Alpha Psi. “And several of (his students), because of who he was and how he operated, joined the fraternity as a result.”

In the mid-1970s, Bell took a position at Roosevelt Elementary School in Broadview, where he taught math and history to seventh and eighth graders.

“Teachers can have popularity, but sometimes it can be the wrong (kind),” Thomas said. “But it wasn’t (the case) with Jesse — the kids respected him and looked up to him.”

Bell retired from teaching in 1991.

Bell operated side businesses while teaching, including J&D Cab Co. In 1984, he started JJ Limousine Service, which operated until 2018.

“As he migrated from teaching to his entrepreneurship, one of the things that he constantly did was, whenever he had those relationships (with customers), he kept those relationships for years, even after people weren’t riding with him (anymore),” Engram said. “He never met a stranger — everybody once they knew him, kind of knew him for life.”

Bell was an avid traveler, and while raising his daughters he owned a motor home that he would pilot around the U.S. every summer, his daughter said.

Bell’s wife of 55 years, Doris, died in 2013. In addition to his daughter, Bell is survived by another daughter, Jennifer; and six grandchildren.

Services were held.

Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.