Gertrude Belzora Jefferson Roscoe "Bell" was born on October 18, 1926, the eldest child and only girl of Clifton and Salena Jefferson. She grew in grace and wisdom in Selma, Alabama surrounded by a village of loving people who encouraged and supported her. Her baby brother
Leonard Jefferson survives her as the only remaining sibling. She claimed Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior and was baptized in the historic Tabernacle Baptist Church in Selma. She departed this life on November 24, 2024 at 98 years of age.

As a child Bell had a fondness for older adults and learning the fine arts of homemaking. She had a natural affinity for cooking, sewing, and teaching. She soaked it in like a sponge and continued to bake and cook until her legs and knees would no longer cooperate.

Always eager to learn, Bell enrolled at Tuskegee Institute (now University) after graduating from Knox Academy. She was a proud 1948 graduate of Tuskegee and was an active member of the Alumni Association until her passing. She had a great college experience at Tuskegee
including becoming Miss Home Economics. She treasured many lasting relationships from those years and married her college sweetheart, Harold Roscoe in 1951. He preceded her in death. To this union they were blessed with three children: Clifton, Girtha, and Melvin.

Bell enjoyed a long professional career starting with teaching in Brewton, Alabama where she became lifelong stand-in mother to one of her very special students Anne Roberson when she was in 10 th grade. After marrying the love of her life, she moved to Birmingham and worked for
the PET Milk Company as a home economist. She enjoyed twelve years with the Birmingham Housing Authority as assistant manager for Smithfield Court and Southtown Projects. She earned a master's degree in Guidance and Counseling from Alabama A&M University and
returned to her true calling, teaching. She retired from the Jefferson County School System in 1989.

In retirement she enjoyed mentoring and spoiling her only grandchild LaNelle Victoria. She welcomed into her heart and gave her love to her son-in-law Victor and equally so to grandson- in-law Gary. She was known to love many of the neighborhood kids as if they were her own.
She even adopted a couple of adult "sons" along the way. The dog Callahan is not to be forgotten!

She was a determined woman, working for the betterment of her neighborhood, and her church but most of all her family. Her nieces and nephews, cousins and extended family meant the world to her, and she wanted the best for all of them.

She was an ordained elder and the treasurer of New Zion Cumberland Presbyterian Church of which she was a member for 73 years. She was known to be a woman of conviction, and a force for getting things done. We will miss her tremendously.

Her legacy is found in the lives of those who love her and those she loved so well.