Leslie Ann Bell

Hoytsville 2nd Ward is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Remembering Leslie Bell
Time: Sep 17, 2022 10:00 AM Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/99479906936?pwd=ZDNBUTBibHBMaUtDaUdTTDZzYVpEUT09

Meeting ID: 994 7990 6936
Passcode: 197101
Meeting ID: 994 7990 6936
Passcode: 197101
Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/aehs1l8LWS


Leslie Ann Bell, daughter to Jim and Sandra Bell, sister to Thomas Bell, beloved family member to many, and dear friend to all, finished her mortal journey on earth and returned to her heavenly home.

Leslie grew up in Florida which was the perfect place for her to cultivate her curiosity of life and her great sense of adventure. She enjoyed exploring the beaches that surrounded her home, and would often walk the shoreline collecting sharks’ teeth and shells. She also liked to do cartwheels along the ocean’s edge and chase the sea foam as it blew across the sand.

Leslie loved video games, especially the ones she played with her family. Shortly after her family moved to Florida, they began the tradition of gathering together each night to play Nintendo’s Mario Race Cart on an 80” screen. Her family has fond memories of playing this game together because of all the joy and laughter it brought into their home. Leslie always picked Yoshi as her driver, and her favorite races were Moo Moo Farm and Koopa Troopa Beach.

Leslie enjoyed numerous family trips to the Kennedy Space Center to watch space shuttle launches. She loved seeing the bright light beneath the shuttle as it lifted off, but her favorite part of each launch was the anticipation of waiting to feel the sound waves that were emitted from the powerful rockets propelling the shuttle into space. She would watch the ripple of the sound waves race towards her across the Indian River and then she’d have that exhilarating experience of being able to feel the power of the launch literally travel right through her body.

During her years in Florida, Leslie trained and developed her skills in the sport of gymnastics. In the summer of 1996, young Leslie’s interest in gymnastics began while she was watching the Olympics with her mother. When Leslie saw the determination of an injured Kerri Strug, who had the courage to vault, and the strength to land on one leg to win the gold medal for her team, Leslie turned to her mother and said, “Mommy, I want to do that!”

Leslie spent most of her 15 years of training at Orlando Metro Gymnastics, where she diligently worked on building and refining her skills up to Level 10, the highest level of the USAG Junior Olympic program. During this time she also developed deep friendships with her teammates, and learned many valuable lessons from her dedicated coaches. She competed in competitions all over the United States and her team won Florida State Championships nearly every year. She was a state vault champion, she competed in the USA Gymnastics Junior Olympic National Championships, and she earned a full scholarship to Brigham Young University.

Her years of training in gymnastics gave her a powerful drive for life. There wasn’t any adventure that was too big for her to conquer. She experienced everything from parasailing with her brother in Key West, to climbing numerous times to the 11,752 foot summit of Mount Timpanogos, to standing outside with her father as an eyewall of a hurricane passed right through her. Leslie was fascinated with weather events, she had no fear of storms, and everyone was certain at this time in her life she would become the next Jim Cantore.

Standing in the eye of hurricane Charlie was one of her greatest adventures. She stood in a safe location with her father as they waited for the front side of the eyewall to arrive. The eyewall is the most intense part of a hurricane. She described the deafening sounds of the storm that surrounded her and how the wind was blowing the palm trees in only one direction. Once the eyewall passed through her and she was inside the eye of the storm, she described how suddenly the storm just stopped. There was no wind, no noise, and no rain; there was just a feeling of stillness, peace and calm for several minutes. Then, as the backside of the eyewall approached, and the wind started blowing the palm trees in the opposite direction, she was satisfied with the full experience of being inside the eye of a hurricane, and she retreated with her father to the safety of inside their house.

She served a mission to Tokyo, Japan for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She loved serving the people of Japan, embraced their culture, and felt spiritually lifted as she taught those who were seeking Christ. While in Japan, she also enjoyed teaching English classes for adults, and gymnastic classes for children. In addition to learning Japanese on her mission, she also taught in Spanish and Portuguese, and this began a lifelong desire to learn new languages.

During her time in Japan, she often mentioned that living in Tokyo felt a lot like living in Central Florida where she grew up. It was surrounded by the ocean, it was humid, there were typhoons, and there was even a Disneyland nearby! She enjoyed traveling across the world, living in a foreign county, learning a new language, and experiencing a new culture so much that this ultimately instilled in her heart the desire to continue to travel and see the world.

In 2017, Leslie began working for Zions Bank. She loved her Zions Bank family dearly and they constantly provided her with love and support. She began her career as a teller in the Newpark branch in Park City. Leslie loved to listen to music, so she brought her iPod to work each day, hooked it up to a speaker, and filled the branch with music. She even started receiving song requests from her co-workers and so she would happily add new songs and update her playlist for the branch. When she accepted a promotion to be a Retail Support Personal Banker, she moved out of the Newpark branch and was assigned to work at numerous branches throughout the Wasatch Front. Even then, she still provided music for the Newpark branch and did it remotely from home. She greatly enjoyed offering this memorable service to her Zions family.

Leslie was offered many opportunities to advance and grow her career at Zions Bank that she willingly accepted. She worked diligently and steadily improved her knowledge and skills and advanced from a teller to a retail support supervisor in just two short years. When Leslie’s neurological illness began in 2020, her Zions Bank family rallied around her and gave her every opportunity to continue working even when she experienced severe medical limitations. With the help, love, friendship, motivation and mentoring Leslie constantly received from her Zions Bank family, she had recently reached the milestone of returning back to work full-time again at Zions Bank.

For all those who loved Leslie, this is an unbearable loss. Leslie had a wonderful heart and cared deeply for her family, her friends, and her pets. She was compassionate, expressed deep empathy towards others, and always went the extra mile to help those around her. She had an amazing smile and she radiated a sparkle from within that would light up an entire room. She was a courageous warrior who fought and overcame many trials throughout her entire life.

We’d like to thank the teams of medical professionals who labored to diagnose and treat Leslie’s debilitating illness. Specifically, we’d like to thank Jeanette Vernon, for her unrelenting determination to guide Leslie to the correct specialists who could reach a diagnosis. We’d also like to thank Tom and Maria Gurrister, for their rare and specialized expertise that allowed for Leslie to regain her speech and her confidence, which brought hope, faith and light back into Leslie’s life.

Leslie fought her entire life with the same determination, courage and strength that she emulated from her childhood hero, Kerri Strug. Leslie was determined to rise up after each setback, she had unwavering courage to keep moving forward, and even when times were very difficult, she demonstrated incredible strength and always fought to land on her feet.

To our sweet girl Leslie, you will always be missed, you will always be remembered, and you will always have a place in our hearts. May you forever feel the same peace that you felt while you were inside the eye of a hurricane, and may your liftoff from earth to heaven be as beautiful and powerful as a space shuttle launch, and may we all feel the sound waves of your beautiful life flow through us forever.

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Celebration of Life for Leslie Ann Bell
Saturday, September 17th @ 10:00am
In the Cultural Hall – (Dress casual, bright colors preferred)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
1095 S. Hoytsville Road
Coalville, UT 84017

There will be a portion of the Celebration that will include a limited time for an open mic. This time frame is set aside for anyone who would like to share a brief story or memory of Leslie (1-2 minutes at most) for each person who would like to participate.