Each year, our Club sets aside a lunch meeting to honor the legacy of one of our own, TommyBell, and to present the Tommy Bell Award. More on Mr. Bell below.
Assisting with today’s program is featured speaker Gordon Walls. Born in Campbellsville, Kentucky, Mr.Walls has been a resident of Lexington from an early age. He graduated from Tates Creek High School, where he met his future wife, Karen Rogers. Gordon attended UK and was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. He has two children, Nathaniel Walls and Megan Walls Heidemann, and six grandchildren. In 1985, he became the owner of Cockrell’s Collision Repair, where he actively worked until he felt called into the ministry. He currently serves on the Ministry Staff at Southland Christian Church and has been on staff at Southland since 2000. Gordon enjoys playing golf and watching his grandchildren play sports. He also enjoys cheering on the Wildcats at any event. His greatest desire is to serve others, be an encourager to others, and spread the love of Jesus.
Tommy Bell was born in Lexington, Kentucky, on July 2, 1922. He graduated from Henry Clay High School in 1939, where he was all-state in football and track. He then attended the University of Kentucky, but he was called to serve in the United States Air Force in World War II. Thereafter, he graduated from UK in 1948 and obtained his law degree from UK in 1950.
Tommy Bell’s chosen profession was that of a lawyer, and he was a good one; so respected by his peers that he was chosen in 1966 as the Henry T. Duncan Memorial Outstanding Lawyer in Lexington. Mr. Bell was one of the founding partners of the law firm now known as FowlerBell. He was general counsel for Citizens Union National Bank, Fasig Tipton, Don Jacobs AutoDealerships, and Telecable of Lexington.
Mr. Bell is a member of the University of Kentucky Hall of Alumni, Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity Hall of Fame, the Kentucky High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame, the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame, and the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame. He also received the Brotherhood Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews. He served on theUniversity of Kentucky Board of Trustees and the University of Kentucky Athletic AssociationBoard and was a member of the University of Kentucky Development Council and chairman oftheir Fellows program. He was state chairman of the Character and Fitness Committee for theKentucky Bar Association, past president of the Greater Lexington Chamber of Commerce andstatechairman of the Easter Seals. He served on the board of directors of the Heart Association,March of Dimes, Rotary Club, Junior Achievement, Cancer Crusade, St. Joseph Hospital,Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Urban League.
His hobby was sports officiating, which he did at both the collegiate and professional levels.Some people are probably not aware of his refereeing two NCAA championship basketball finals in 1956 and 1959, before joining the National Football League, where he officiated eight championship games and two Super Bowls, Super Bowl III and Super Bowl VII.
Finally, Mr. Bell was in heavy demand as a public speaker, having spoken in many countries and most of the United States. Tommy Bell believed in God, the church, family, education, marriage, honesty, respect for the law and order, authority, America, and hard work. By any measuring device, Tommy Bell was a success.