Judith Anne (Brammer) Bell

Judith Anne Brammer Bell went home to eternal rest on August 27, 2017. The beautiful voice taken away by a horrible stroke, was returned by the angels. She has taken her place in the Heavenly Choir.

Funeral services will be Friday September 1 at 11 AM in the chapel of Albritton Funeral Directors with Rev. Benjy Varnell officiating. Interment will follow at Oakridge Cemetery. The family will receive friends Thursday evening at the funeral home from 7-9 PM.

She came as a surprise to her parents on May 3, 1933; they were only expecting one baby. Anne arrived 90 minutes after sister. They were “coal miners’ daughters”, as their dad was a coal miner in western Indiana. She and her sister were born to John Thomas and Margaret Gregson Brammer in Clinton, Indiana. She graduated from Clinton High School in 1951. In 1958, Anne graduated from Indiana State Teachers College with a Bachelor’s Degree in chemistry. She was accepted into the graduate program at the University of Georgia where she earned a Master’s Degree in chemistry. At UGA, her life would be forever changed as she would meet the handsome dark-haired, blue-eyed young man from the north Georgia mountains who would steal her heart, Durham K. Bell. They married on August 5, 1962. After Durham completed his Ph.D., the young couple moved to Tifton in 1965, where Dr. Bell accepted a position at the Experiment Station. In 1966, a charming little boy came into their lives, followed by a sweet little girl in 1970.

Anne called herself the “kitchen chemist” as she was always trying intriguing recipes and creating new ones. In 1976, she was the Georgia winner for the National Chicken Cooking Contest with her Pollo Pane, chicken bread. This earned her a spot at national competition held in Philadelphia, PA. For this achievement, she was featured in an article for Brown’s Guide to Georgia and was interviewed by WMAZ in Macon for the Date with Del television show. She also competed in many local competitions sponsored by the Georgia Peanut Commission.

Music was always a part of Anne’s life. In high school, she was in the marching and concert bands. She sang in church choirs wherever her studies took her. She played the “big bells” in the handbell choir at Tifton FUMC. She sang with the Tifton Choral Society for many years. She also sang in the choir at Tifton FUMC. She taught her treasure trove of “silly songs” at various Girl Scout camps and workshops throughout South Georgia. She sang to her children.

From 1986 until retiring in 2008, Anne was a research associate in the Horticulture Department at the Experiment Station. Before this she was a part-time chemistry instructor at ABAC. She was the lead author on a chemistry lab manual published by ABAC. She was a life member in the Girl Scouts of America, and a member of the American Chemical Society. Anne was a member of the Tallassee Chapter of the DAR. She was in the Eastern Star. She was a member of First United Methodist Church in Tifton for more than 50 years. Just prior to the stroke, Anne completed a collection of her life stories and silly songs.

Preceding Anne in death was her husband of 52 years, Durham K. Bell; her parents, John and Margaret Brammer. She is survived by a son, John Durham Bell of Enigma, GA; a daughter, Margaret “Mollie” Bell Smith of Dixon, CA; Mollie’s husband, Tad Smith; and a grandson, Preston Durham Smith. Her twin sister, J’Nann Brammer Grayson, her husband Don, and their children Eric & Melinda Grayson.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to First United Methodist Church, 107 West 12th Street Tifton, GA 31794 or the charity of one’s choice.