Margaret Sue Bell London
April 4, 1920 – January 15, 2020
Margaret Sue Bell London was the eldest daughter of Charles Bell and Jessie Hill Bell.
She was born April 4, 1920 on the farm in Brighton on what is now Templeton Road. She moved with the family to Cost, Texas from 1927 to 1930 but returned to Tennessee and graduated from Brighton school
A graduate of Memphis State, she returned home to teach second grade at the Brighton school till the passing of her father in 1950. Then she, her sister Helen and their mother Jessie moved to Miami, Fla. to live with her brother (Robert) Sloan who was working at Eastern Airlines. She received a master’s degree in Education from the University of Miami and taught school in Miami until retiring in 1974.
Margaret married Robert London in 1954 and they settled in Miami till her retirement when they bought a 20-acre farm in Homestead, Fla. where they grew limes and avocados. Over time, they sold 5 acres at a time to supplement their retirement incomes. Robert passed away in 1992 and she continued to farm the last 5 acres until she could no longer safely stay at the farm by herself in 2011. She went to several retirement homes in Homestead, but eventually was brought to Covington, by her cousins in Sept. of 2012. Her last long-term care facility was Covington Care in Covington, Tennessee where she passed away in her sleep at midnight January 15, 2020. She was 99 years old.
Robert (Bob) worked for Eastern Airlines and received free or extremely discounted tickets every 10 years. Margaret and Bob enjoyed traveling and went to Australia twice. They had an Airstream trailer and went on vacations when they could. Bob was an avid garage sale person and it grew into a small business for Margaret as “Secondhand Boutique” in Homestead, till hurricane Andrew collapsed the building.
She was preceded in death by her husband Robert Henry (Nagode) London, her parents, brother Robert Sloan Bell and sisters Helen Bell Malone and Mary Bell Kraft.
She is survived by her nephew Charles Malone of Cedar Park, Texas and his wife Christine and daughter Abigail. Also, a niece Carolyn Kraft Ware and her husband John and their daughter Rebecca.
She and Bob were long-term member Redlands Community Church in Homestead, Fla. The church helped Margaret stay on the farm for many years. We acknowledge Jerry and Peppy Frye, Judy Cabrera, and the deacons (and many more) for taking care of her in Homestead. Margaret loved to sing hymns and could quote many bible verses (some whole chapters in Romans). One of the first things she would ask you when you walked into the room was “Do you know Jesus?”
We wish to acknowledge the assistance of cousins Jean Hill Chisolm, Joy Hill, Zane Hill Jr., and Casey Hill for being there for Margaret in Tennessee these last seven-plus years.
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