Joy Bell Haley, age 89, passed away on Sunday, December 14, 2025, at Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, with her sons present.
Joy Bell was born March 8, 1936, in Philpot, KY, to Wallace Arvin Bell and Marian Moore. Her parents passed away in 1973, her sister Joan Bell Phillips in 2001, and her husband Robert Leo Haley, Jr., on April 9, 2023. She is survived by sons Robert, John, and Paul (Shelley) and grandchildren Sheridan and Davis Haley.
Joy attended Philpot Elementary, Russellville Grade School, and Elkton High School – class of 1954 – before earning a journalism degree from the University of Kentucky in 1958.
Energetic and popular, she was a cheerleader at schools in Russellville and Elkton, and she held every office of the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority at UK. After college, she came to Nashville, where her boyfriend Bob was in medical school, and began to work as a proofreader and copywriter at Harvey’s Department Store.
Married in December 1959, they moved to Augusta, GA, in the summer of 1960, where Robert was born, then to Jackson, MS, in 1961, where John was born, to Fort Rucker, AL, in 1962, and back to Nashville in 1964, where Paul was born.
Keeping the home in order and raising her boys was the priority. She was very involved with her boys’ schools and served as president of the PTA at Woodmont School and as president of the Mothers' Auxiliary at Montgomery Bell Academy. She enjoyed staying at home over the past few years and continued to keep it orderly and make improvements.
An antique buyer and dealer, in the 1980s, she was a part-owner of Pembroke Antiques on Highway 100, and for many years, she maintained an antique booth at Whiteway Antique Mall near Music Row. She regularly participated as a dealer at the Fiddlers Show (now The Nashville Show), and she was a key person in the start-up of the Heart of Country Antiques Show.
Her homes were featured in several home décor magazines, notably her Kentucky home in the October 1993 issue of Country Living.
Visitation will be held at Neal-Tarpley-Parchman Funeral Home, 1510 Madison Street, Clarksville, on Monday, December 29, from 9:30 to 11:00 am, followed at 11:00 am by a funeral service of the Word, testimony, and song.
Friends are welcome also at the graveside service at Edgewood Cemetery, Trenton, KY, which will follow promptly after the funeral.
Arrangements are entrusted to Neal-Tarpley-Parchman Funeral Home, Clarksville.
You may make memorial gifts to the Edgewood Cemetery Fund, P.O. Box 72, Trenton, KY 42286, to Forest Hills Baptist Church, Nashville, or to a place you choose.
