05/22/2026
Kenneth D. Bell
In Loving Memory of Kenneth D. Bell (1945-2026)
After a lifetime of love shared with his family and committed service to his community, Kenneth David Bell passed away in the morning on Thursday, May 7th, 2026, with his wife and children by his side. He was 80 years old.
Early life--Ken was born in 1945 in Chicago, IL, and spent a majority of his foundational years in Indianapolis, IN. Ken began a life of serving others when he joined the United States Air Force in 1965, where he rose to the rank of Sergeant. Ken’s commitment, drive, and passion for a rules-driven culture continued to surface in his other pursuits. After an honorable discharge from the Air Force, Ken and his first wife, Barbara Brunt, moved to Utica, NY, where he attended Utica College of Syracuse University (now Utica University) and earned a B.S. in Public Accounting. Shortly after, he welcomed the birth of his two sons, Justin and David, the first of which occurred in Utica. The family later moved to Rochester, where Ken spent the majority of his life. After some time spent in Rochester, Ken met his future wife, Anne Veness. They were married in 1984 and welcomed two daughters, Catherine and Sydney, shortly after. Ken’s corporate career began at Arthur Andersen & Co., where he served as an accountant. Over a career that spanned 40 years, Ken rose to executive-level roles at First Federal Savings & Loan of Rochester and The Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) before his retirement in 2006 from HSBC. After realizing he wasn’t quite ready for retirement, Ken returned to work at the Community Preservation Corporation (CPC), finishing his tenure there a few years later.
Throughout his career, Ken was recognized in many ways for both his business success and service to the Greater Rochester community. Ken served on a number of for- and not-for-profit boards that spoke to his passion for his community. Education, workforce development, banking, healthcare, and the arts were at the forefront for him with every organization he gave his time and energy to since starting his career. His board service most recently included Utica University, The Farash Foundation, and WealthForward ROC. Prior to those commitments, he unfailingly served several organizations across the Greater Rochester and Greater Buffalo areas, including: ESL Federal Credit Union, Hope Hall School, Junior Achievement, United Way of Greater Rochester and the Finger Lakes, Garth Fagan Dance, WXXI, Strong Memorial Hospital, Monroe Community College Foundation, YMCA of Greater Rochester, Inroads, Inc., and Shea’s Performing Arts Center. Ken’s work on state and local boards inspired his children to support their respective communities.
In this way, nothing made Ken more proud than the accomplishments of his wife and children. Despite the often extreme demands on his personal time due to work commitments, he always found time to take part in the activities of his family: concerts, sports events, stage productions, art shows, vacations, weddings, walks, and everything in between. In his later years, he regularly traveled to and with his family to spend quality time as a group. These trips included visits to see his children in Minneapolis, London, Chicago, and the “DMV” (DC, Maryland, and Virginia). When Ken became a grandparent, he was the driving force in the creation of the Bell Family Vacay, biennial trips where Ken, Anne, and their children, partners, and grandchildren could celebrate at beaches across the Eastern US, including Cape Cod, Cape May, and the Outer Banks.
Ken was a man of rich, personal pursuits. For those who knew him, his first love beyond his family was the game of golf. Ken found a way to get to a golf course almost every week. His love of the game began with hitting a “quick nine” at Riverton Golf Club, and expanded to memberships at Oak Hill Country Club and Ravenwood Golf Club for the past 25 years. If he wasn’t talking about, watching, or playing golf, Ken had a number of other passions. He loved the game of baseball. He supported the home town team, Rochester Redwings, and cheered on his beloved Los Angeles Dodgers. Another one of Ken’s passions included film. Many of the memories Ken’s family formed were centered around films such as "Caddyshack" (yes, a golf movie!), any good western like "Tombstone" and memorable quotes from "Aliens". He had a true appreciation for the "Star Wars" films, which was passed on to his kids. Ken’s love of sports, film, music and television often united his family with many laughs while he quoted his all-time favorite TV show, "Seinfeld".
Although Ken appreciated many different kinds of music, he always returned to the catalog of his favorite artist, Prince. For Ken, it was Prince in all forms: he loved the Prince film "Purple Rain". He loved the soundtrack from the movie "Batman", which featured a number of Prince hits. He made a trip to Paisley Park, Prince’s home in Minneapolis, and he regularly forced his family to listen to Prince songs on road trips of all shades. Although he almost never wore the color purple, Ken was an unabashed fan of “The Purple One.”
Ken is survived by his loving wife, Anne Veness-Bell, his children Justin (Meg Cooch), David (Courtney), Catherine Bell-MacKinnon (Stuart MacKinnon), and Sydney (Doug Weglicki); his grandchildren Percy, Ezekiel, Rylan, Madden, McKinley, Lochlan and Leon; his niece, Leslie Price (Darrell), and nephew Jeff Hicks; his great nephew Darrell Price Jr. (Brittany), and great niece Courtney Price Lee (Ryan Lee), and each of their families; his cousins Janet Johnson, Charles Hamm and each of their families, as well as several family members across the United States. Ken is predeceased by his mother and step-father, Essie and Ernest Jones, his siblings, Wanda Hicks, Michael, and Ronald, and several aunts and uncles.
Ken’s family welcomes the community to share space and stories during calling hours on Monday, June 22nd, from 4-7 p.m. at Farrell-Ryan Funeral Home (777 Long Pond Road, Rochester, NY). A private celebration of life will be held on June 23rd. In lieu of flowers or other gifts, please consider a donation to an organization close to Ken and Anne’s hearts, Hope Hall School (www.hopehall.org).
Ken was able to affect so many lives during his life, through a variety of means: his generosity, his sense of humor, his time, his energy. He had a laugh that was bigger than life and an appetite for many of the things that made his life special, from his family to great food to his time on the golf course. His physical being and his legendary character will be sincerely missed, and lovingly remembered, by all who had the chance to know him.
For My Sweet,
“...My thoughts are with you
Holdin’ hands with your heart to see you
Only blue talk and love, remember
How we knew love was here to stay
Now December
Found the love that we shared in September
Only blue talk and love, remember
The true love we share today...”
-“September”, Earth Wind and Fire
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