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Julia J. (Bell) Gordon

1927 - 2022

Julia J. (Bell) Gordon, 95 of Rowan, passed away Saturday, November 12, 2022 at the Rehabilitation Center of Belmond.

Funeral services for Julia Gordon will be held at 10:30 AM on Saturday, November 26, 2022, at Ewing Funeral Home, 111 Luick’s Lane South, in Belmond, with Pastor Mark Pluff officiating. Burial will take place at Graceland Cemetery in Rowan.

Visitation for Julia Gordon will be held from 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM on Friday, November 25, 2022 at Ewing Funeral Home in Belmond and will continue one hour prior to the funeral on Saturday.

Julia was born February 22, 1927 to Fred and Katherine Margaret (Wille) Bell in Klemme, Iowa. She was baptized and confirmed in the Klemme Reformed Church. At the age of 10 she joined the school band playing the French Horn. She was very proud of the fact she got to march in the North Iowa Band Festival as an 8th grader. Julia sang in all the school musicals. She graduated from Klemme High School in 1944.

After graduation she worked in the telephone office and grocery store in Klemme. In 1945 a young man came to Klemme to a dance and became the love of her life. They were married December 29th, 1946.

Lloyd moved the city girl to a farm by Rowan where Julia was Lloyd’s equal partner driving tractor and doing chores, but still managed to have a huge garden with produce to can. It is told she even helped unload heavy fertilizer bags off trucks when they had a fertilizer dealership. They moved to Rowan in 1976. Lloyd and Julia enjoyed 55 years together.

Julia was a longtime member of the United Church of Rowan, teaching Sunday School, a member of the Mary Phi Group, and helping whenever needed. She was active in the Wright County Cowbelles’, and served on the County 4-H Committee. Julia was always willing to help with whatever was needed for her family, church, friends and neighbors.

Over the years they traveled from one border to the other with friends to go fishing in Canada, Super Bowl in Florida, Niagara Falls, Alaska, Hawaii, World’s Fair in Tennessee and winters in Arizona. When their grandchildren became active in school, they enjoyed attending musicals, sports events, chorus, and band activities.

To pass her time after Lloyd passed away, Julia became an avid reader and a TV sports fan. She particularly enjoyed NBA basketball in the winter. She loved to bake bread and her famous salted peanut butter bars. Even when she lived in town, she was involved in the farming operation. She enjoyed people gathering on her deck to visit almost every day when the weather was nice.

Her memory will live on with her children Vern (Sally) Gordon of Belmond. Their children Angela (Seth) Pacha of Germantown Hills, Illinois; their children Kayla and Addison. Adam (Tracy) Gordon of Culver, Indiana; their children Meredith and Gavin. Aimee (Andrew) Mellein of Polk City, Iowa; their children Ben and Brooklyn. Kathryn (Gary) Nielsen of Rowan; their children Corey of Rowan and Sarah (Travis) of Plano, Texas, numerous nieces and nephews, along with other family and friends.

She was preceded in death by her husband Lloyd (2002) and son Gary Lee (2015). Parents Fred and Katherine, step mother Rose; brother Fredrick and his wife Lula; sister Ruth Pringnitz (2018), husband Dutch; and nephews.