Iowa Quad-Cities Senior Hall of Fame to induct inaugural members
QUAD-CITY TIMES STAFF
QUAD-CITY TIMES STAFF
Two Davenport residents who have devoted a good part of their lives to helping others, particularly in the health-care field, will be the inaugural inductees into a new Iowa Quad-Cities Senior Hall of Fame.
Presentations of the honor to Lilah Bell and Dr. John Cannon will take place Thursday during the 10th annual Salute to Seniors at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds in Davenport. Making the presentation will be John McCalley, director of the Iowa Department of Elder Affairs.
The Hall of Fame will “celebrate the spirit of volunteerism” among seniors, said Gloria Fisher, executive director of Senior Voice.
“Over the last 10 years we have noticed in working with many of the seniors in our area that they are striving very hard to maintain their own independence, and they are great volunteers,” she said. “You look at our first two inductees, all the things they have been involved in and continue to be involved in.
“We need to use that knowledge,” she added.
The Hall of Fame is a joint effort of Senior Voice and the Davenport Public Library.
Lilah Bell
Lilah Bell, 99, still lives in the Pleasant Valley area home she and her late husband, Walter S. (Bud) Bell, built in 1933. She entered St. Luke’s School of Nursing in September 1926 and completed her training Oct. 29, 1929, the day the stock market crashed, beginning the Great Depression.
A consistent advocate for shut-ins and for seniors, she began volunteering for the American Red Cross in 1938 and was at a Red Cross meeting when the news of the attack at Pearl Harbor came on Dec. 7, 1941.
She was the founder and director of the Homemaker Service for Scott County, from which she retired in 1977. She was also active in organizing a meal service to shut-ins in the county, serving that organization for 42 years, just retiring in January of this year.
In 1975, Bell was honored by the Quad-City Times as the “Most Admired Woman in the Quad-Cities,” and in 1978 was named Outstanding Iowan. She has said her most treasured award was that of being inducted into the Davenport Central High School Hall of Honor.
She has two sons, Jerry Alan Bell and Thomas Lee Bell, both of whom have made their mark in academic circles.
In between all of her activities, she has made time to be a world traveler, having visited 27 foreign countries.
Dr. John Cannon
Dr. John Cannon, 87, also has traveled extensively overseas, on humanitarian missions to China, Japan, the Philippines, Africa and Brazil. He was honored for 50 years of service to the Rotary Club.
Cannon began his career as an Army medic during World War II, treating soldiers in the South Pacific jungles.
In a 2005 story in the Quad-City Times, Cannon counted as one of his biggest accomplishments marrying his wife, Doris, and following his father’s lead by being able to afford college for his own six children.
Cannon is well-known for his longtime work in providing volunteer dental services to children in the community. In May 2001, after retiring from his full-time practice, he set up the Hope Dental Clinic at Genesis Medical Center. The free, all-volunteer clinic saw 300 patients per year until it closed in 2004. He has been recognized in particular for his work with handicapped and special needs children.
In 2005, Cannon received the Lew Hine Award from the National Child Labor Committee in recognition of outstanding volunteer work with children for more than four decades.
His reaction to the award, from a story about its announcement:
“They said there were 1,700 nominations for this award and they picked an old Midwest plowboy, one that got a chance to do what he loved and that is work with kids.”
The city desk can be contacted at (563) 383-2450 or newsroom@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.
If you go
What: Salute to Seniors
When: Thursday, May 8, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Where: Starlite Ballroom Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds in Davenport.
Highlights: The free event features dozens of exhibitors, giveaways and musical entertainment. The Senior Hall of Fame ceremony will take place on stage at 11 a.m. Following the ceremony, Lilah Bell and Dr. John Cannon will be at a special Hall of Fame exhibit to welcome well-wishers and display their tropics and personal archival material.