The Valley Intruder : MABEL BELL : Monrovia, May 29

Mabel Bell, 84, and her invalid sister, Florence Lang, 81, had spent the last 25 years in the modest home framed with roses and a white picket fence on the outskirts of Monrovia.

Living high above the San Gabriel Valley on a lonely winding road, they had only one close neighbor. Bell liked it that way, but her relatives worried.

Born in Kentucky, Ma Bell, as her family called her, moved to California 35 years ago. Widowed at an early age, she worked as a secretary for Vernon Tool Co. to support her two children. Mrs. Bell, not wishing her invalid sister to be institutionalized, took her into her home.

She was the center of the family, which included 12 grandchildren. Two of those she helped through college.

‘Warm, Caring Person’

Although Mrs. Bell’s health was deteriorating, she still drove her own car and played bridge several times a week.

Every year she sent a contribution to a fund to keep the Statue of Liberty in good condition.

“On one side she was the very practical business woman, on the other, a warm caring person,” said a grandson, his voice hoarse with emotion. “I still can’t talk about her.”

Some time between May 29 and June 1, an assailant entered the home through an unlocked door and viciously beat both women. On the morning of June 1, a gardener, suspicious because of their open door, entered the tiny house and found the battered women lying in their bedrooms.

Mrs. Bell, whom friends called a “gutsy, independent old lady,” clung to life for six weeks after the brutal assault but died of massive body trauma July 15.

Her sister survived, but relatives said she can no longer speak and will be hospitalized indefinitely.