Stories From Our Past – Jeremy Bell|Face to Face

MEET JEREMY BELL as told by his twin sister Candace Roney

My twin brother and only sibling, Jeremy Bell, a resident of Guernville, was one of the very early volunteers for Face to Face after being diagnosed with first ARC in April 1986 at UCSF. Of course, there was not anything for him so we all knew it was a death sentence. He died in the bedroom he grew up in our mother’s home in Santa Rosa July 2, 1989, a month shy of our shared 41st birthday. At the time, he was considered a “long-term” survivor because few lived more than two years with AIDS. He was part of the clinical trials for AZT at UCSF. It may have prolonged his life some but it was very toxic. He did reasonably well until about 4 months from his death. Jeremy was a graduate of UC Berkeley and a landscape designer with his own business before he became ill.

In his 3-plus years of living with AIDS, he compiled and self-published a book called Roads to Recovery: A guide for people with ARC and AIDS. Proceeds from sale of the book were donated to Face to Face. It was a compendium of material available at the time, much of it from Project Inform. The book was actually distributed internationally.

In late May, 1989, just 6 weeks before he died, he received Face to Face’s first Volunteer of the Year Award, which was named for him. I don’t think the Jeremy Bell Volunteer Award any longer exists, perhaps named for someone else. It was presented at a very moving ceremony in Courthouse Square in Santa Rosa after a procession of several hundred people from SRJC down Mendocino Ave. My husband and I pushed Jeremy in a wheelchair from SRJC to the Courthouse Square where he received his award.

I was also told that a small library at the former Face to Face offices in Guerneville was named for him, but it was destroyed when that building flooded a few years later.

At that time, the mid-1980s, with so much misinformation and fear, it was tough being a family member of a person with AIDS. Some of my mother’s friends shunned her because they knew she was taking care of him (a registered nurse, World War II veteran Canadian Navy nurse) and they were afraid. I am proud that my parents and I stood up and provided Jeremy with the care and love he needed at the worst times of our lives. Some of his friends died alone in tents in the rain in those early days.

I was also told that a small library at the former Face to Face offices in Guerneville was named for him, but it was destroyed when that building flooded a few years later.

We had his memorial service in the Redwood amphitheater at Armstrong Redwoods State Park on July 29, 1989. We had a reception afterwards in the Face to Face office in Guerneville. About nine months later, I placed a quilt square I had made in his memory into the AIDS Memorial Quilt.

A sweet story. The first weekend of cleaning out I took all of his clothes, bedding etc. to a laundromat in Guerneville to wash. The owner did not recognize me as a local with all of that laundry so asked if I was new in town. I said no, but these were clothes from my recently deceased twin brother that needed to be washed and given away. He immediately said, “Are you Jeremy’s sister?” When I said yes, he said “leave the clothes here. I will wash and fold them all, no charge. You can pick them up later today.” He said “Anything for Jeremy. He was ‘the mayor of Guerneville’ in our eyes”. This past week I read a story about why people continue to live in Guerneville with repeated floods. So many mentioned the sense of community that I saw that day as a reason they continue to endure the challenges of living on the river.

I promised Jeremy I would support Face to Face until it was no longer necessary. My parents did too, leaving gifts in their will as have I. They are gone now, but I’m still at it, at age 74. Each year near our shared birthday I sent a memorial gift.

Thank you face to Face for being there for Jeremy and my family in our darkest time.