Boykin Kendall “Ken” BELL

1954 - 2021  (66 years)

• Name	Boykin Kendall “Ken” BELL  [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
  Birth	21 Jul 1954	Lancaster, Lancaster County, South Carolina
  Gender	Male
  HIST	of Sumter, South Carolina Sheriff's office hires new public information officer Posted Friday, February 19, 2016 6:00 am BY JIM HILLEY JIM@THEITEM.COM Sumter County Sheriff's Office has hired veteran journalist Ken Bell as its public information officer. Bell, who began his duties on Tuesday, has more than 20 years' newspaper experience as a reporter and editor. Bell is also a published author. "Bell's experience made him a natural choice for the position," said Sumter County Sheriff Anthony Dennis. "He is well versed in the state's Freedom of Information Act requirements and is respected by members of the news media from around the region." Bell, a Lancaster native, began his career with The Charlotte Observer and has also worked for The (Myrtle Beach) Sun News, The Beaufort Gazette and The Sumter Item. He graduated from University of South Carolina and is working toward a master's degree. Bell said he is excited to be back working with the media. "Sheriff Dennis has made it clear to me he believes in transparency and the public's right to know," Bell said. "That means I won't wait for the media to contact me; instead I will send out releases as soon as possible following significant events." Sumter Item Editor and Publisher Jack Osteen said Bell's experience in the media should be valuable in his new position. "Bell is a first-class choice as the new public information officer for the sheriff's office," Osteen said. "His public relations and newspaper background will be hugely beneficial in helping the department get important information out to the public in a timely manner." Bell can be reached via email at kbell@sumtercountysc.org or by phone at (803) 236-2034 or (803) 968-0315. Sumter author will launch book on 14-year-old Stinney's execution ‘Triple Tragedy in Alcolu’ examines 1944 murder case Ken Bell's factual account of the murders of two young girls in Alcolu and the 14-year-old who was executed for committing it is titled "Triple Tragedy in Alcolu." Pictured in the cover illustration by Craig Faris are, from left,Betty June Binnicker, George Stinney and Mary Emma Thames. Posted Tuesday, February 18, 2020 6:00 am BY IVY MOORE Features contributor "I have never seen a case where there is so much passion on each side," author Ken Bell said of what he calls "the George Stinney saga." Through extensive research during a period of three years, he has written an extraordinary account of the events leading up to the murder of two young, white girls in March 1944 in Alcolu, the aftermath, arrest and trial of the 14-year-old black George Stinney and his execution by the state of South Carolina less than three months later. In Bell's hands, the saga makes for fascinating - and horrific - reading. "Triple Tragedy in Alcolu" is not sensationalism but a dispassionate and chronological retelling of the known facts of the case, told here 76 years after the deaths of 11-year-old Betty June Binnicker and 7-year-old Mary Emma Thames - and the electrocution of Stinney, the youngest person ever to have been executed in South Carolina. Stinney's surviving family members and others have an unwavering belief in his innocence, while the girls' families believe just as firmly in his guilt. "George Stinney's immediate family 'don't think George deserves his place in hell,'" Bell said, "while the girls' families don't believe anyone could think he's innocent." Bell said George Frierson, a Clarendon school board member, was instrumental in gaining a new trial for Stinney in 2014. "He has a whole scrapbook of newspaper clippings and other information on the crime," Bell said. Stinney's sisters hoped their brother would be exonerated. Bell sat through the retrial of the 70-year-old case, taking extensive notes. He found that most of the actual information had disappeared through the years and that there was much testimony that was not accurate - and he set out to do his own investigation. "I had to be sure the information in the account was accurate," Bell said. "It was difficult research; a lot of people involved in the original trial had died. I carefully documented all the information I used in writing the book. "My goal was twofold: One, to dispel rumors, and two, to document the fiction and the facts of the case (trial)." He noted that "one thing about a (case like this) is that the winning side gets to write history. It's slanted toward their side." Bell said he leaves readers to decide what they think about the crime and the verdict. He is working on two mystery novels and wants to get the Alcolu book behind him. "It's over and done with," he said, but "what happened to Stinney could never happen today" because the laws regarding equal treatment of blacks and whites in the courtroom have changed. Stinney was the only black person in the courtroom. "Back (in 1944), it was normal procedure." At the launch for "Triple Tragedy in Alcolu" from 4 to 7 p.m. on Thursday in the City Centre beside the Sumter Opera House, 21 N. Main St., Bell will talk about the case, the arduous task of investigating it 70 years after the crime and his process in writing it. He will also have books on hand for purchase and signing, as well as copies of official documents that were instrumental in the case. These include copies of doctors' post-mortem examinations of Betty June Binnicker and Mary Emma Thames; letters to and from then-S.C. Gov. Olin D. Johnston regarding requests for a pardon for Stinney; the presiding judge's official sentence; and the certification of Stinney's death by electrocution in June 1944. The following Thursday, Feb. 27, from 3 to 5:30 p.m., The Elephant Ear Gallery will host a reception, author's talk and book signing at the art gallery/gift shop, 672 Bultman Drive. Admission is free to both events. "Triple Tragedy in Alcolu" is published by Bella Rosa Books. It is a trade paperback, 282 pages and sells for $16.95. Former Item editor, sheriff's office PIO Ken Bell remembered for his friendship, heart Ken Bell, a former Sumter Item city editor, Sumter County Sheriff's Office public information officer and a Sumter County deputy coroner, died Jan. 21 of COVID-19. He is pictured here in front of The Sumter Item in downtown Sumter for an article that ran in October 2020 about his nonfiction book "Triple Tragedy in Alcolu" being submitted for consideration for an Edgar Award. MICAH GREEN / THE SUMTER ITEM Posted Wednesday, January 27, 2021 6:00 am BY KAYLA GREEN kayla@theitem.com It was a sticky mid-November afternoon, and, new to Sumter, I drove a dirt road out to Manchester State Forest to examine a hole where a murdered woman had been dumped. That was how I met Ken Bell. The first big case I covered as a new member of The Sumter Item's newsroom in 2017 was that of Suzette Ginther, a woman whose boyfriend worried when she failed to show up for work. So there we were, a 28-year-old female who knew next to no one in Sumter and a man in a police uniform and unmarked vehicle. Retracing the steps of how it could be that someone dragged the dead weight of a grown woman's body from the dirt road to a half-buried spot about 50 yards in amid fallen leaves, roots, jumbled terrain and mud. Within minutes, I knew I wasn't also going to be murdered, and I knew this Ken guy was someone I wanted to know better. He was helpful and respectful, interested in the details of the case and keen on the storytelling from both the reporter's and deputy's perspective. Ken loved this kind of stuff. Humanizing tragedy, bringing truth to serious situations that often gets skewed in dramatics. On Jan. 21, the 66-year-old Lancaster native died after spending the better part of January at Prisma Health Tuomey Hospital battling COVID-19 and exacerbated health complications. "When he was in the hospital and dying, he kept in touch with his close friends via text until they put him under heavy sedation and put him on a ventilator. He was dying, and he knew it, but he sent out comforting messages to those of us who loved him, telling us he was not in pain and he was at peace," said Barbara Martin, a former managing editor at The Sumter Item. She left The Item in 2001 to take the same position at the Beaufort Gazette, which is where she met Ken. In 2004, she recommended him for an open city editor position at The Item. "He wanted to make sure we knew he loved us. I texted back: 'Please stay.' And he sent me a thumbs up. Kind of an appropriate text for a man who never believed in giving up." Talk to any of his friends in Sumter, and they'll tell you the same thing, though maybe tweaked with their own anecdote of a hilarious real-life story he loved telling or a selfless act he didn't think twice about. He volunteered to cut their grass for months. He rescued them from dead car batteries and secured a Sumter-opoly game set for their children. He blew up a baking turkey and accidentally house crashed the Christmas party next door to where he was supposed to go with a blind date. He planned a cruise for his singles group and drove a friend's father to Pennsylvania. He loved the experience of life. If you knew him well enough, or maybe even if you were new to town, you might have watched the video of when he got Tased at the sheriff's office for his deputy certification. He probably laughed while you watched. "He was just a really decent guy," said Tammy Wise, who met Ken through her time teaching Sunday school at Alice Drive Baptist Church. "We never dated. It was never romantic, but my father - he lives with me - and Ken and I would go out to dinner almost every Friday night just to catch up." He'd tell stories about what came across his desk at The Item, like a murder over a stolen porkchop. He'd cheer for Clemson football - his one bias - and predict game scores "with his heart and not his head." He "could tell a bad date story better than anybody." He loved finding homes for stray cats, and he loved Sumter. Not for the notoriety or the thanks but for the fun and the philanthropy. In my more than three years of knowing him, I've seen him at crime scenes and in the courtroom, taking tickets at the city's craft beer and food truck festival and volunteering as an usher at the Sumter Opera House, serving as president of the Sumter-Palmetto Rotary Club and installing Free Little Libraries at HOPE centers, responding to unsightly calls with the coroner's office at any time of the day or night and responding to neighborhoods during hurricanes from the back of a military-surplus armored vehicle, talking about Clemson and holding talks about his new nonfiction book, "Triple Tragedy in Alcolu," an enterprise piece that makes my heart hurt when I think of how much more of it he would have thoroughly enjoyed seeing through. "I think Sumter is going to miss a champion of this town. He did so much quietly in the background He moved here as an outsider. He didn't grow up here, but he wanted to make it a better place, and he made it his home," said Holly Chase, a former Item co-worker who now is the director of community development at Tandem Health. The reporter in him carried through after he left The Item. "He asked questions and wanted to know who you were. That smile when he first walked up; it was instantly 'how are you, how can I help you?' He always made sure people were taken care of," Chase said. She said he was excited to become a deacon at Alice Drive Baptist, and the singles group they were in together went to support him. "He was just a person who shared his life in his testimony. You knew exactly how he felt and where he stood," she said. "He was like a big brother to me. I'm so glad he's not suffering and he's healed, but we're selfish and want to have those laughs again." It's unfair, some cruel joke that the storyteller's story ends over text, ravaged by a virus that left him unable to speak, unable to die next to family and friends. Chuck Bell (Cher), one of Ken's three children - his siblings are Chad Bell of Lancaster and Crystal Strickland (Christopher) of Elgin - said the end was hard for the family. Because of COVID-19 visitation restrictions, they couldn't see him until the very end, when he was no longer awake. The Kershaw resident said his father loved to play music and loved his work. Ken was also most recently a deputy coroner. Ken graduated from Lancaster High School, received his bachelor's degree from the University of South Carolina and earned his master's degree from American Military University. In addition to the Beaufort Gazette and The Item, he also was a reporter at The Charlotte Observer and (Myrtle Beach) Sun News and was a reporter then news editor at The Lancaster News. He won more than 25 S.C. Press Association awards during his career in addition to awards from the S.C. Education Association and The Associated Press. His funeral was on Monday in Lancaster. In addition to his children, he is survived by a sister, Karen Bell Ritenhour (Michael) of Kershaw, and six grandchildren. "He got right with God, and that's the most important thing. You can't go back and do that," Bell said. Two years after Ken and I met on a dirt road, between gigs at the sheriff's and coroner's offices, Ken helped me cover the trial of the dead woman's soon-to-be-convicted ex-boyfriend. He knew we were (perpetually) shorthanded, and he had some newfound free time in his not-so-retired retirement. That's Ken. Always happy to help, always wanting to be in the thick of it. His friends will remember all that and more. The man whose Facebook profile is a sun setting over the horizon of where saltwater meets sand and a simple statement for his bio. "Ken is just glad to be here." Boykin Kendall "Ken" Bell January 21, 2021 Obituary & Service Mr. Boykin Kendall “Ken” Bell, 66, of Sumter, forme... View More Share a Memory Below A comforting word from you means a lot. Share a Memory Obituary Obituary for Boykin Kendall "Ken" Bell Mr. Boykin Kendall “Ken” Bell, 66, of Sumter, formerly of Lancaster passed away Thursday, January 21, 2021 at Prisma Health Tuomey Hospital in Sumer. He was born July 21, 1954 in Lancaster, a son of the late Columbus Boykin Bell and Carrie Ligon Bell. He graduated from Lancaster Senior High School, received his bachelor’s degree from the University of South Carolina, and his master’s degree from American Military University. Bell was a published writer, having written several books and had been published in many regional and national magazines. He was a retired journalist and had worked as a reporter with The Charlotte Observer, The (Myrtle Beach) Sun News, was a reporter then news editor at The Lancaster News, news editor at The Beaufort Gazette and later became city editor of The (Sumter) Item. He won more than 25 awards from the S.C. Press Association during his career. He also won awards from the S.C. Education Association and The Associated Press. Ken had served as a military analyst with Alion science and Technology at Shaw Air Force Base. He later worked with the Sumter County Sheriff’s office and the Sumter County Coroner’s office. Bell was an honorary member of the Sumter Marine Corp League Detachment No. 1202, the Sumter-Palmetto Rotary Club and was a Paul Harris Fellow. In 1972 he was named Rookie of the Year by the Lancaster Jaycees. He was an active member of Alice Drive Baptist Church in Sumter. A service to celebrate the life of Mr. Bell will be held Monday, January 25th, 2021 at 2 p.m. at the Chapel of Lancaster Funeral Home with the Rev. Clay Smith officiating. Burial will be in the Lancaster Memorial Park., Mr. Bell is survived by two sons, Charles K. “Chuck” Bell (Cher) of Kershaw and Chad D. Bell of Lancaster; a daughter, Crystal B. Strickland (Christopher) of Lancaster; a deceased brother, Carroll N. Bell of Lancaster; a sister Karen Bell Ritenhour (Michael) of Kershaw; and six grandchildren. A.J. Bell, Rhiana Bell, Carlee Strickland, Kailyn Bell, Kaydee Strickland, and Addison Strickland. Memorial contributions may be made to the charity of one’s choice. Lancaster Funeral Home & Cremation Service is serving the family of Mr. Bell Celebration of LIfe JAN 25. 2:00 PM (EST) Lancaster Funeral Home Chapel 709 North White Street Lancaster, SC 29720  [1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7]
  HIST	of Sumter, South Carolina Sheriff's office hires new public information officer Posted Friday, February 19, 2016 6:00 am BY JIM HILLEY JIM@THEITEM.COM Sumter County Sheriff's Office has hired veteran journalist Ken Bell as its public information officer. Bell, who began his duties on Tuesday, has more than 20 years' newspaper experience as a reporter and editor. Bell is also a published author. "Bell's experience made him a natural choice for the position," said Sumter County Sheriff Anthony Dennis. "He is well versed in the state's Freedom of Information Act requirements and is respected by members of the news media from around the region." Bell, a Lancaster native, began his career with The Charlotte Observer and has also worked for The (Myrtle Beach) Sun News, The Beaufort Gazette and The Sumter Item. He graduated from University of South Carolina and is working toward a master's degree. Bell said he is excited to be back working with the media. "Sheriff Dennis has made it clear to me he believes in transparency and the public's right to know," Bell said. "That means I won't wait for the media to contact me; instead I will send out releases as soon as possible following significant events." Sumter Item Editor and Publisher Jack Osteen said Bell's experience in the media should be valuable in his new position. "Bell is a first-class choice as the new public information officer for the sheriff's office," Osteen said. "His public relations and newspaper background will be hugely beneficial in helping the department get important information out to the public in a timely manner." Bell can be reached via email at kbell@sumtercountysc.org or by phone at (803) 236-2034 or (803) 968-0315. Sumter author will launch book on 14-year-old Stinney's execution ‘Triple Tragedy in Alcolu’ examines 1944 murder case Ken Bell's factual account of the murders of two young girls in Alcolu and the 14-year-old who was executed for committing it is titled "Triple Tragedy in Alcolu." Pictured in the cover illustration by Craig Faris are, from left,Betty June Binnicker, George Stinney and Mary Emma Thames. Posted Tuesday, February 18, 2020 6:00 am BY IVY MOORE Features contributor "I have never seen a case where there is so much passion on each side," author Ken Bell said of what he calls "the George Stinney saga." Through extensive research during a period of three years, he has written an extraordinary account of the events leading up to the murder of two young, white girls in March 1944 in Alcolu, the aftermath, arrest and trial of the 14-year-old black George Stinney and his execution by the state of South Carolina less than three months later. In Bell's hands, the saga makes for fascinating - and horrific - reading. "Triple Tragedy in Alcolu" is not sensationalism but a dispassionate and chronological retelling of the known facts of the case, told here 76 years after the deaths of 11-year-old Betty June Binnicker and 7-year-old Mary Emma Thames - and the electrocution of Stinney, the youngest person ever to have been executed in South Carolina. Stinney's surviving family members and others have an unwavering belief in his innocence, while the girls' families believe just as firmly in his guilt. "George Stinney's immediate family 'don't think George deserves his place in hell,'" Bell said, "while the girls' families don't believe anyone could think he's innocent." Bell said George Frierson, a Clarendon school board member, was instrumental in gaining a new trial for Stinney in 2014. "He has a whole scrapbook of newspaper clippings and other information on the crime," Bell said. Stinney's sisters hoped their brother would be exonerated. Bell sat through the retrial of the 70-year-old case, taking extensive notes. He found that most of the actual information had disappeared through the years and that there was much testimony that was not accurate - and he set out to do his own investigation. "I had to be sure the information in the account was accurate," Bell said. "It was difficult research; a lot of people involved in the original trial had died. I carefully documented all the information I used in writing the book. "My goal was twofold: One, to dispel rumors, and two, to document the fiction and the facts of the case (trial)." He noted that "one thing about a (case like this) is that the winning side gets to write history. It's slanted toward their side." Bell said he leaves readers to decide what they think about the crime and the verdict. He is working on two mystery novels and wants to get the Alcolu book behind him. "It's over and done with," he said, but "what happened to Stinney could never happen today" because the laws regarding equal treatment of blacks and whites in the courtroom have changed. Stinney was the only black person in the courtroom. "Back (in 1944), it was normal procedure." At the launch for "Triple Tragedy in Alcolu" from 4 to 7 p.m. on Thursday in the City Centre beside the Sumter Opera House, 21 N. Main St., Bell will talk about the case, the arduous task of investigating it 70 years after the crime and his process in writing it. He will also have books on hand for purchase and signing, as well as copies of official documents that were instrumental in the case. These include copies of doctors' post-mortem examinations of Betty June Binnicker and Mary Emma Thames; letters to and from then-S.C. Gov. Olin D. Johnston regarding requests for a pardon for Stinney; the presiding judge's official sentence; and the certification of Stinney's death by electrocution in June 1944. The following Thursday, Feb. 27, from 3 to 5:30 p.m., The Elephant Ear Gallery will host a reception, author's talk and book signing at the art gallery/gift shop, 672 Bultman Drive. Admission is free to both events. "Triple Tragedy in Alcolu" is published by Bella Rosa Books. It is a trade paperback, 282 pages and sells for $16.95. Former Item editor, sheriff's office PIO Ken Bell remembered for his friendship, heart Ken Bell, a former Sumter Item city editor, Sumter County Sheriff's Office public information officer and a Sumter County deputy coroner, died Jan. 21 of COVID-19. He is pictured here in front of The Sumter Item in downtown Sumter for an article that ran in October 2020 about his nonfiction book "Triple Tragedy in Alcolu" being submitted for consideration for an Edgar Award. MICAH GREEN / THE SUMTER ITEM Posted Wednesday, January 27, 2021 6:00 am BY KAYLA GREEN kayla@theitem.com It was a sticky mid-November afternoon, and, new to Sumter, I drove a dirt road out to Manchester State Forest to examine a hole where a murdered woman had been dumped. That was how I met Ken Bell. The first big case I covered as a new member of The Sumter Item's newsroom in 2017 was that of Suzette Ginther, a woman whose boyfriend worried when she failed to show up for work. So there we were, a 28-year-old female who knew next to no one in Sumter and a man in a police uniform and unmarked vehicle. Retracing the steps of how it could be that someone dragged the dead weight of a grown woman's body from the dirt road to a half-buried spot about 50 yards in amid fallen leaves, roots, jumbled terrain and mud. Within minutes, I knew I wasn't also going to be murdered, and I knew this Ken guy was someone I wanted to know better. He was helpful and respectful, interested in the details of the case and keen on the storytelling from both the reporter's and deputy's perspective. Ken loved this kind of stuff. Humanizing tragedy, bringing truth to serious situations that often gets skewed in dramatics. On Jan. 21, the 66-year-old Lancaster native died after spending the better part of January at Prisma Health Tuomey Hospital battling COVID-19 and exacerbated health complications. "When he was in the hospital and dying, he kept in touch with his close friends via text until they put him under heavy sedation and put him on a ventilator. He was dying, and he knew it, but he sent out comforting messages to those of us who loved him, telling us he was not in pain and he was at peace," said Barbara Martin, a former managing editor at The Sumter Item. She left The Item in 2001 to take the same position at the Beaufort Gazette, which is where she met Ken. In 2004, she recommended him for an open city editor position at The Item. "He wanted to make sure we knew he loved us. I texted back: 'Please stay.' And he sent me a thumbs up. Kind of an appropriate text for a man who never believed in giving up." Talk to any of his friends in Sumter, and they'll tell you the same thing, though maybe tweaked with their own anecdote of a hilarious real-life story he loved telling or a selfless act he didn't think twice about. He volunteered to cut their grass for months. He rescued them from dead car batteries and secured a Sumter-opoly game set for their children. He blew up a baking turkey and accidentally house crashed the Christmas party next door to where he was supposed to go with a blind date. He planned a cruise for his singles group and drove a friend's father to Pennsylvania. He loved the experience of life. If you knew him well enough, or maybe even if you were new to town, you might have watched the video of when he got Tased at the sheriff's office for his deputy certification. He probably laughed while you watched. "He was just a really decent guy," said Tammy Wise, who met Ken through her time teaching Sunday school at Alice Drive Baptist Church. "We never dated. It was never romantic, but my father - he lives with me - and Ken and I would go out to dinner almost every Friday night just to catch up." He'd tell stories about what came across his desk at The Item, like a murder over a stolen porkchop. He'd cheer for Clemson football - his one bias - and predict game scores "with his heart and not his head." He "could tell a bad date story better than anybody." He loved finding homes for stray cats, and he loved Sumter. Not for the notoriety or the thanks but for the fun and the philanthropy. In my more than three years of knowing him, I've seen him at crime scenes and in the courtroom, taking tickets at the city's craft beer and food truck festival and volunteering as an usher at the Sumter Opera House, serving as president of the Sumter-Palmetto Rotary Club and installing Free Little Libraries at HOPE centers, responding to unsightly calls with the coroner's office at any time of the day or night and responding to neighborhoods during hurricanes from the back of a military-surplus armored vehicle, talking about Clemson and holding talks about his new nonfiction book, "Triple Tragedy in Alcolu," an enterprise piece that makes my heart hurt when I think of how much more of it he would have thoroughly enjoyed seeing through. "I think Sumter is going to miss a champion of this town. He did so much quietly in the background He moved here as an outsider. He didn't grow up here, but he wanted to make it a better place, and he made it his home," said Holly Chase, a former Item co-worker who now is the director of community development at Tandem Health. The reporter in him carried through after he left The Item. "He asked questions and wanted to know who you were. That smile when he first walked up; it was instantly 'how are you, how can I help you?' He always made sure people were taken care of," Chase said. She said he was excited to become a deacon at Alice Drive Baptist, and the singles group they were in together went to support him. "He was just a person who shared his life in his testimony. You knew exactly how he felt and where he stood," she said. "He was like a big brother to me. I'm so glad he's not suffering and he's healed, but we're selfish and want to have those laughs again." It's unfair, some cruel joke that the storyteller's story ends over text, ravaged by a virus that left him unable to speak, unable to die next to family and friends. Chuck Bell (Cher), one of Ken's three children - his siblings are Chad Bell of Lancaster and Crystal Strickland (Christopher) of Elgin - said the end was hard for the family. Because of COVID-19 visitation restrictions, they couldn't see him until the very end, when he was no longer awake. The Kershaw resident said his father loved to play music and loved his work. Ken was also most recently a deputy coroner. Ken graduated from Lancaster High School, received his bachelor's degree from the University of South Carolina and earned his master's degree from American Military University. In addition to the Beaufort Gazette and The Item, he also was a reporter at The Charlotte Observer and (Myrtle Beach) Sun News and was a reporter then news editor at The Lancaster News. He won more than 25 S.C. Press Association awards during his career in addition to awards from the S.C. Education Association and The Associated Press. His funeral was on Monday in Lancaster. In addition to his children, he is survived by a sister, Karen Bell Ritenhour (Michael) of Kershaw, and six grandchildren. "He got right with God, and that's the most important thing. You can't go back and do that," Bell said. Two years after Ken and I met on a dirt road, between gigs at the sheriff's and coroner's offices, Ken helped me cover the trial of the dead woman's soon-to-be-convicted ex-boyfriend. He knew we were (perpetually) shorthanded, and he had some newfound free time in his not-so-retired retirement. That's Ken. Always happy to help, always wanting to be in the thick of it. His friends will remember all that and more. The man whose Facebook profile is a sun setting over the horizon of where saltwater meets sand and a simple statement for his bio. "Ken is just glad to be here." Boykin Kendall "Ken" Bell January 21, 2021 Obituary & Service Mr. Boykin Kendall “Ken” Bell, 66, of Sumter, forme... View More Share a Memory Below A comforting word from you means a lot. Share a Memory Obituary Obituary for Boykin Kendall "Ken" Bell Mr. Boykin Kendall “Ken” Bell, 66, of Sumter, formerly of Lancaster passed away Thursday, January 21, 2021 at Prisma Health Tuomey Hospital in Sumer. He was born July 21, 1954 in Lancaster, a son of the late Columbus Boykin Bell and Carrie Ligon Bell. He graduated from Lancaster Senior High School, received his bachelor’s degree from the University of South Carolina, and his master’s degree from American Military University. Bell was a published writer, having written several books and had been published in many regional and national magazines. He was a retired journalist and had worked as a reporter with The Charlotte Observer, The (Myrtle Beach) Sun News, was a reporter then news editor at The Lancaster News, news editor at The Beaufort Gazette and later became city editor of The (Sumter) Item. He won more than 25 awards from the S.C. Press Association during his career. He also won awards from the S.C. Education Association and The Associated Press. Ken had served as a military analyst with Alion science and Technology at Shaw Air Force Base. He later worked with the Sumter County Sheriff’s office and the Sumter County Coroner’s office. Bell was an honorary member of the Sumter Marine Corp League Detachment No. 1202, the Sumter-Palmetto Rotary Club and was a Paul Harris Fellow. In 1972 he was named Rookie of the Year by the Lancaster Jaycees. He was an active member of Alice Drive Baptist Church in Sumter. A service to celebrate the life of Mr. Bell will be held Monday, January 25th, 2021 at 2 p.m. at the Chapel of Lancaster Funeral Home with the Rev. Clay Smith officiating. Burial will be in the Lancaster Memorial Park., Mr. Bell is survived by two sons, Charles K. “Chuck” Bell (Cher) of Kershaw and Chad D. Bell of Lancaster; a daughter, Crystal B. Strickland (Christopher) of Lancaster; a deceased brother, Carroll N. Bell of Lancaster; a sister Karen Bell Ritenhour (Michael) of Kershaw; and six grandchildren. A.J. Bell, Rhiana Bell, Carlee Strickland, Kailyn Bell, Kaydee Strickland, and Addison Strickland. Memorial contributions may be made to the charity of one’s choice. Lancaster Funeral Home & Cremation Service is serving the family of Mr. Bell Celebration of LIfe JAN 25. 2:00 PM (EST) Lancaster Funeral Home Chapel 709 North White Street Lancaster, SC 29720
  Occupation	He use to work for The Item.  [2]
  Occupation	He use to work for The Item.  [2]
  _UID	1EC72F7FB3634C3493C2F10C02016B513AF9
  _UID	1EC72F7FB3634C3493C2F10C02016B513AF9
  Death	21 Jan 2021	Prisma Health Tuomey Hospital, Sumter, Sumter County, South Carolina
  Burial	25 Jan 2021	Lancaster Memorial Park, Lancaster, Lancaster County, South Carolina   [7]
  	Lancaster Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Lancaster, South Carolina Lancaster Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Lancaster, South Carolina
  Person ID	I241304	Singleton and Related Families
  Last Modified	27 Jan 2021

  
  

  Father	Columbus Boykin BELL   d. Bef 11 Apr 2020
  Mother	Carrie LIGON,   b. 4 Sep 1926   d. 20 Dec 2005, Springs Memorial Hospital (Age 79 years)
  _UID	F2A17AF83F264E718135D45550FC15117AF9
  _UID	F2A17AF83F264E718135D45550FC15117AF9
  Family ID	F162879	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family
  _UID	4A42F0B30C5C4E0EB6C6116EEB86A20D0EF8
  _UID	4A42F0B30C5C4E0EB6C6116EEB86A20D0EF8
  Children	1. Charles K. “Chuck” BELL   2. Chad D. BELL   3. Crystal BELL
  Family ID	F162881	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	14 Apr 2020

  
  

• Sources

  [S12124] Carrie L. Bell. [S24522] Sheriff’s office hires new public information officer. [S26345] Interview with Ken Bell. [S27625] Carroll Nelson Bell. [S27975] Sumter author will launch book on Stinney’s execution. [S28563] Ken Bell . 1954-2021 Former Item editor, sheriff’s office PIO remembered for his friendship, heart. [S28564] .