Sherman G. Bell
Late Accomplished Jazz Saxophonist & Flute Player
Article From the
Orbit Newspaper
San Bernadino, CA
(San Bernadino, CA - 3/11/06) - SHERMAN G. BELL peacefully departed this life on Thursday, March 2, 2006 in
San Bernardino, CA. Sherman was born September 8, 1949 in Webb, Mississippi
on the Dyess Plantation to Anna Lee Bell and Warren G. Bell. He attended
the public schools in Milwaukee, Wisconsin receiving a B.A. from the
University of Wisconsin. Sherman met and married Janice Tamkin and from
that union came the "Sunshine of his life," Melody Harmony Bell. He also
shared a special bond with his nephew, Masada Bell-Royster. His family
proudly grew with the recent union of his daughter to his beloved son-in-law
Yohannes Amare, and his nephew Shahid White who recently relocated to
California. Sherman was employed as a Supervisor at San Bernardino County
Juvenile Hall and played as a musician with various groups around Southern
California. Those left to celebrate his life include his wife and love of
thirty-eight years, Janice, and daughter, Melody, and son-in-law Yohannes
Amare. Also celebrating are his five siblings: three sisters, Brenda
Bell-White, Tina Bell-Royster, and Tammy Brandenberg and two brothers, Guy
L. and Greg A. Bell, all of Milwaukee, Wisconsin along with a host of
nieces, nephews, relatives, friends and all those who were fortunate enough
to have known him.
Services were held at Bobbitt Memorial, 1299 East Highland Avenue, San
Bernardino, on Wednesday, March 8, 2006, at 12:00 noon. "These are but a
few of his favorite things..."
Send condolences online at
www.bobbittchapel.com
SB man's life philosophy was never give up
Courtney Burns, Staff Writer
San Bernardino County Sun
3/11/26
SAN BERNARDINO - Whether it was a family member, a friend or a plant, Sherman G. Bell, never gave up on them or it.
Described as a man with hope and dedication, Bell died March 2, in San Bernardino. He was 56.
Born on the Dyess Plantation in Webb, Miss., on Sept. 8, 1949, Bell was proud of his hometown and roots.
"He was proud of coming from Mississippi," said his wife, Janice Tamkin. "He was proud of being born on the plantation, and he was very proud of his roots."
Many people are fans of music, but for Bell, it was his first love.
"He was so in love with music," his wife said. "It was very important to him."
When Bell was 17, he moved with his family to Milwaukee. It was there that he met Janice.
The young love birds set their sights on San Francisco. Surrounded by free-spirited people and music, they welcomed their daughter, appropriately named Melody Harmony Bell, who now resides in Los Angeles.
After the couple moved back to Milwaukee, Bell started attending classes at the University of Wisconsin. He received a master's degree in social sciences.
"He was so smart," his wife said. "He enjoyed learning. He was an excellent student. He could read anything once and remember it forever. He loved to read. Reading was his thing."
Then, a call offering Tamkin a job in San Bernardino came their way. She accepted, and the couple made their home in the city for many years.
Shortly after arriving in the area, Bell was hired as a supervisor at San Bernardino Juvenile Hall.
"He was really good at working with the boys there," said his wife. "He showed them respect, so they respected him. He grew up with similar experiences that a lot of the boys he worked with went through, so he related, and because of that the boys worked hard for him, they wanted to do well for him."
A sharply dressed man, Bell's appearance was something he valued.
"He took pride in his appearance," said his wife. "He carried himself as an artist. He was creative, he always stayed true to himself and his long dreadlocks."
When Bell wasn't playing his soprano saxophone or flute, he was gardening.
A fan of the entire gardening process, Bell was never one to give up on his plants, even if they weren't looking their best.
"It was his philosophy in life," his wife said. "He never gave up on anyone or anything, as long as there was a breath, there was hope."
A fan of jazz, reggae and Jimi Hendrix, Bell's love of life and hope for all living things had a positive impact on everything and everyone around him.
In addition to his wife and daughter, Bell is survived by brothers Guy L. Bell and Greg A. Bellof Milwaukee and sisters Brenda Bell-White, Tina Bell-Royster and Tammy Brandenberg, all of Milwaukee.
Services were held at Bobbit Memorial Chapel in San Bernardino.
A Tribute To Sherman Bell
Sherman Bell was the new guy at my job. This was about ten years ago, at a
deteriorating juvenile detention facility in the old part of San Bernardino
that we affectionately called "South Central." At the time, it was the only
juvenile hall in our County, but it was, and remained, the place where
Sherman worked. This man with the crazy hair and beard asked me whether I
knew any musicians. I said I was a singer, but he was looking for
instrumentalists to form a band. He had done some drug and alcohol
counseling before this. It seemed as though he would never fit in among our
wanna-be-cop crowd. After about a year, as a personal amusement, I quizzed
every officer leaving the facility at the end of their shift, seeking a
single word to describe the quirky Mr. Bell. The most common response was,
"Jesus," a reference to his long hair and beard, when neither was
fashionable. But everyone smiled. I had only worked one shift with him,
but found him to be fastidious, almost neurotic about cleanliness. He was
preparing to wax the floor behind the counter where the officers wrote their
log entries. He scrubbed the floor with the squared toe of his alligator
loafers, not being willing to bend over to soil his hands with the scouring
pad.
He came to work at a special unit attached to our facility. This place was
more focused on treatment, and Sherman seemed to belong there, with the
looser format. He became great friends with a co-worker there, Neona. She
wrote poems, he played his sax, and they shared a few beers, but I don't
believe she ever really synchronized with his music, and though he
appreciated her artwork and poems, he didn't seem to have the poet's spirit.
The time spent with Neona was not willingly shared by Mrs. Bell, and a
certain amount of respectful jealousy followed. A few times I heard him
playing the sax in the background when I would chat with Neona on the phone.
Even through the phone wire, it was a wonderful sound.
Sherman was promoted to supervisor, and moved to the extreme northmost unit
in the facility, the maximum-security Unit 13. By this time, I was a
supervisor also. Sherman had suffered a small stroke, and the Department
allowed him to use the maintenance department's electric cart to cross the
campus on his errands. One night, he gave me a lift, and we zipped across
the darkened compound at breakneck speeds. He made me laugh, again and
again. Later, we shared his dinner, a Caesar salad he had bought at a
grocery before work. He had probably been a supervisor less than two weeks,
but his office already showed his signature style, with a zebra pelt on the
floor and a little water fountain making noises. Sherm was uncomfortable
around discord, and he asked me lots of questions about an ongoing dispute I
had had with Neona. Within the week, we were best friends again, and I'm
sure Sherman was responsible. One of our bosses, Joe, asked me to help
Sherman with a short report we had to write. I'm pretty confident of my
writing, and I sat down to help my friend. Sherm did it his own way,
disregarding my advice, and I shrugged and brought both reports back to Joe.
Joe praised Sherman's report, and gave me a load of not-so-constructive
criticism. Sometimes I looked at Sherman and said to myself, "who IS this
guy?"
Time passed, and Sherman saw less of Neona. She was recovering from an
illness recently, and he caught up with her at a public park where she liked
to air her dogs. Neo's daughter appeared with the new grandbaby, and Sherm
put a litte, rolled-up Twenty in the boy's tiny fist. Neona told Sherman he
looked tired. He complained that he had been moving furniture that morning.
It was that evening that he crossed over. His wife remembers little of life
before him. Neona was simply shocked by the suddenness.
I went to work. I went to the funeral. Back at work, I realized that some
of my girls at my modern facility came from Sherman's girls' unit, his last
assignment at "South Central." One of my girls reminisced last night about
her Mr. Bell. She recalled his dreds, his subtle limp, and that he stood up
for her when her grandfather quarrelled with her, and escorted the
grandfather out of the facility. "He was a very, very nice person." Mr.
Bell never stopped playing his music. He played in everyday life, and in
clubs around town. He sometimes brought his sax to work and serenaded his
kids. He was always true to himself, and yes, he was, indeed, a very, very
nice person.
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