Lt. Col. Lillian Hagener Bell

Jan. 10, 1928 – Oct. 23, 2016

Lt. Col. Lillian “Lil” Hagener Bell of Oceanside, California, passed away on Oct. 23, 2016. Lillian was the widow of William D. Bell of Oceanside. Lillian was born on Jan. 10, 1928 to Oliver and Louise Hagener. Lillian was the youngest of the first set of twins born in Silverdale, Washington.

Lil graduated from Central Kitsap High School in 1946 and worked as a “call girl” for the telephone company for eight years before joining the United States Marine Corps.

Lil continued her education while serving and obtained her bachelor’s degree in history and her master’s degree in education.

Lil later was commissioned one of the first women officers in the Marine Corps. She and her husband made the paper as Sgt. Major William D. Bell would now have to salute his wife in the morning.

Lil retired from the Marine Corps as a Lieutenant Colenel in 1992. After retiring Lil remained busy volunteering as an Ambassador to Oceanside wearing her red coat proudly. She also volunteered countless hours at the Oceanside Visitors Center and the Oceanside Library where she was a “Friend of the Library”. Lillian is survived by her older twin sister, Lila Riddle of Silverdale; her foreign exchange student daughter Tamami Wada; her granddaughters Jessie Abbatiello, Jana Guerdet, Dana Crouse, Sunshine Voss; great-grandchildren Samantha Abbatiello, Jamie Orlov, Ashley Abbatiello, Giovanni Abbatiello, Tyler Bell, Kylie Voss; and great-great-grandchildren William and Theodore Ziesemer.

A memorial service will be at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 6 at Silverdale Lutheran Church. In lieu of cards and flowers, the family requests a donation to the Point Defiance or Woodland Park Zoo.