Ricky Bell Scholarship Fund Expands

The Ricky Bell Memorial Scholarship Fund, which began with donations when Bell died last November, is being expanded.

Bell’s widow, Natalie, announced Friday that the fund would be perpetuated through what is scheduled to be an annual golf event. The first fund-raising golf outing will be held July 12 at the Brookside Golf Course in Pasadena.

Mike Garrett, a Heisman Trophy winner who, like Bell, attended USC, is serving as the honorary chairman of the scholarship fund.

Referring to the rare muscle and heart disease that claimed Bell’s life when he was just 29 years old, and to his active involvement with youngsters in South Central Los Angeles, Garrett paid tribute to Bell for “going through what he went through and still taking the time to be human.” Said Garrett: “We are continuing Ricky’s life through the young people in this area.”

Natalie Bell said: “We started this scholarship fund from the donations that came in after Ricky died, but really, Ricky started it. He had always helped students who wanted to go to college, and he had planned to establish a permanent scholarship fund, himself.”

The idea of the golf outing, she said, came from representatives of the Henry Weinhard’s Private Reserve Brewing Co., which is sponsoring what they are calling the Ricky Bell Memorial Scholarship Fund Golf Classic. Additional information is available from tournament director Booker Moten Jr. at (213) 293-0770.

At a luncheon and sports auction following the outing, four students at Fremont High (Bell’s school) will be awarded the first scholarships from the fund.