Duncan Hadley Bell passed away at Nyack Hospital on Friday, June 30, 2023 after an extraordinarily brave year-long battle with esophageal-gastric-junction cancer. He was born on June 23, 1952 to Paul and Adelaide (née Russell) Bell, in Darien, CT. He was raised in Ridgewood, NJ and attended Ridge Elementary School, George Washington Jr. High, Ridgewood High School, the College of Wooster, and Michigan State University, where he received a PhD in Plant Physiology. With his wife, Sally Hitchcock, he moved to South Bend, Indiana where he did a post-doctorate, and also spent three years in Glasgow, Scotland doing post-doctorate work. After moving to Nyack, NY in 1986, he was employed by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, where he rose through the ranks to become the head of Biomedical Engineering when the company was acquired by Pfizer.


Duncan was a kind and patient father to four children, Ian, Nathan, Thaddeus, and Abigail, and two stepchildren, Evelyn and Carlo. He loved nothing more than spending time with his children both individually and collectively, traveling with them, nurturing their interests, encouraging their independence and sharing his love of Cape Cod.


He retired in 2011 and devoted much of his time as a retiree to theatre (especially Nyack’s Elmwood Playhouse, which awarded him the prestigious Golden Elm Leaf award in 2023), gardening and other projects. Duncan was a creative soul who thrived on invention and ingenuity. Among the things he invented are the “kayakamaran” that combined sailboats and kayaks for journeys on the Hudson river, and the “Autogarden”, which had many adaptations; he jokingly claimed it solved world hunger many times over. He loved to decorate for Christmas and Halloween and made automated displays for shop windows in Nyack. His company Look Alive Window Shows was founded in 2011. He spent many hours programming and tinkering in his well-equipped basement where he organized his tools and supplies and had several 3D printers. Duncan also passionately believed in teaching others to use Excel programming, robotics, electronics and arduinos. He taught these concepts at the Ma’ayanot Yeshiva, Rockland Community College, and several local libraries.


In 2018, he married Jennifer Giunta and together they started their plant nursery Cottage Creek Gardens, where he constructed a winter cold frame, cages for berry bushes, all of the tables, benches, irrigation and seed starting systems. He also enjoyed finding new routes to travel on his ebike and playing in the yard with his beloved dog, Mimi.


In addition to his wife Jennifer of Valley Cottage he is survived by his children Ian Bell of Washington DC, Nathan Bell, his wife Naudia, and their daughter Felicity of Central Nyack, NY, Thaddeus Bell of Washington DC, and Abigail Torres and her husband Jon of Schuylerville, NY, his stepchildren Evelyn Hausler of Gulfport, FL and Carlo Hausler of New Haven, CT, his sisters, Jenny Sandoval and Priscilla Bell, both of Wilmington North Carolina, twin brother Douglas Bell and his wife, Barbara of Hendersonville, NV, his niece Brooke Sandoval of Raleigh, NC, and nephew Andrew Bell of Phoenix, AZ. He was predeceased by his sister Wendelin in 1975.


There will be a wake and visitation at the Hanneman Funeral Home at 88 S. Broadway in Nyack, NY on Saturday, July 8 from 10 am -12:30 pm, followed by a service at Grace Episcopal Church at 130 First Avenue in Nyack, NY beginning at 1:30 pm and a reception following. In lieu of flowers, donations in his name can be made to Elmwood Playhouse.