Scranton, Pennsylvania is a place that climbs into your heart and never leaves. It's home. It's that special place etched in your heart.
I was born there. Even after my family moved to Claymont, Delaware as my dad found work, we'd return to our old Green Ridge neighborhood in Scranton and spend time with our friends, Charlie Roth, Larry Orr, and Tommy Bell.
Tommy and I lived three blocks apart. We sat next to each other during grade school at St. Paul's. From swinging on branches to running by the river, Tommy was the friend with the special heart, who would always lighten your heart. Over the next 70 years, he was the best friend at weddings, funerals, campaign rallies, and so many memories. You could always count on Tommy, and I hope he knew he could always count of me.
Tommy became an insurance agent. He served in the National Guard. He and his of wife of 51 years, Ellen, raised their four children in Scranton. They became my family.
In building their great American life, Tommy took genuine pride in the success of his family, community, and our nation. He returned love with boundless loyalty. He was a man of honor, decency, and grace. A man of utmost character.
Tommy embodied a simple truth about our nation. There is nothing ordinary about being an American. We are extraordinary. Tommy was extraordinary.
It's as if William Butler Yeats had Tommy in mind when he wrote, "Think where man's glory most begins and ends and say my glory was I had such friends."
Tommy Bell was such a friend. I will miss him dearly. Jill and I and our entire family send our prayers to Ellen, their children and grandchildren, and the entire Bell family.
May God bless Tommy Bell, a great American, and a good man.
