GIVING HONOR TO GOD, THE BELL FAMILY AND ALL WHO ARE PRESENT: MY NAME IS GREG GRIFFIN.

WE ARE HERE TODAY TO SAY GOODBYE TO FRED FRANK BELL II WHO I AFFECTIONATELY CALLED “LITTLE FRED”. TO LOSE “LITTLE FRED” SO SUDDENLY AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE, AS OTHERS HAVE EXPERIENCED IS INDESCRIBABLY SHOCKING AND SAD. BUT WHAT IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT TO US NOW, AND INTO THE FUTURE, IS THAT WE REMEMBER FRED AS HE WOULD HAVE WISHED TO BE REMEMBERED AS HE WAS: AN EAGLE SCOUT, FULL OF LIFE, DOWN TO EARTH, AND A MAN OF GREAT AND REMARKABLE CHARACTER. IN 1978 I WAS STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT AT MOREHOUSE COLLEGE. I FREQUENTLY MET WITH THE LATE DR. BENJAMIN MAYS, PRESIDENT EMERITUS OF MOREHOUSE COLLEGE. ON ONE OCCASION UPON RETURNING TO CAMPUS AFTER HAVING LUNCH AT PASCHAL HOTEL WITH DR. MAYS AND DR. WENDELL WHALUM, I SPOKE WITH DR. MAYS ABOUT THE EULOGY THAT HE DELIVERED AT DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR’S FUNERAL. I REMEMBER THE OCCASION AS IF IT HAPPENED YESTERDAY. I WAS STANDING NEXT TO DR. MAYS ON MOREHOUSE COLLEGE CAMPUS AS HE STOOD LOOKING OUT THE SIDE WINDOW OF DUBOIS HALL. DR. MAYS SAID AS HE LOOKED OUT THE WINDOW, “BUILDINGS STAY AND PEOPLE GO! BUILDINGS STAY AND PEOPLE GO! REALIZING THAT DR. MAYS WAS TALKING ABOUT DEATH AND ALL OF THE PEOPLE WHO HAD PASSED ON DURING HIS AFFILIATION WITH MOREHOUSE COLLEGE, I SAID TO HIM, “IT MUST HAVE BEEN A GREAT HONOR WHEN THE EYES OF THE WORLD WERE UPON YOU TO HAVE SPOKEN AT MOREHOUSE COLLEGE’S MOST DISTINGUISHED AND FAMOUS ALUMNUS, DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR’S FUNERAL.” DR. MAYS 80, YEARS OLD AT THE TIME, HIS HAIR AS WHITE AS SNOW GAVE ME A “BUCK BENNY” LOOK AND SAID: “YOUNG MAN IT IS AN HONOR TO SPEAK AT THE FUNERAL OF ANY MOREHOUSE MAN.” “IF THE REQUEST IS EVER MADE OF YOU, RISE TO THE OCCASION. TODAY, THIRTY YEARS AFTER THAT CONVERSATION WITH DR. BENJAMIN MAYS, I RISE TO THE OCCASION AND I AM TRULY HONORED TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SAY A FEW WORDS AT THIS HOMEGOING CELEBRATION FOR THAT MOREHOUSE MAN AND MY MOREHOUSE BROTHER, FRED FRANK BELL II. 

I HAVE KNOWN THE BELL FAMILY FOR MANY YEARS. I HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF WATCHING FRED II, CHRISTOPHER AND COURTNEY GROW UP. THIS WAS ALL MADE POSSIBLE BECAUSE THEIR FATHER IS MY MENTOR. I MET “BIG FRED” IN 1987 WHEN I STARTED PRACTICING LAW AT THE ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE. WE BECAME FAST FRIENDS. “BIG FRED” BECAME MY MENTOR AFTER I WENT TO BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA WITH HIM TO TRY A CASE IN FEDERAL COURT. WHEN “BIG FRED” WALKED IN THE FEDERAL COURTROOM AND BEGAN TO TRY HIS CASE I WAS AMAZED AT HIS COURTROOM SKILLS, I WAS AMAZED AT HIS ABILITY TO MASTER THE JURY. I WAS AMAZED AT HOW VERY WELL HE REPRESENTED HIS CLIENT. I KNEW AT THAT MOMENT I HAD TO HITCH MY WAGON UP TO “BIG FRED” AS A RESULT OF HAVING “BIG FRED AS MY MENTOR I WAS AFFORDED AN OPPORTUNITY TO KNOW AND LOVE HIS FAMILY. IN 1995 I NOMINATED THE BELL FAMILY FOR THE FAMILY GUIDANCE CENTER FAMILY OF THE YEAR AWARD. THE BELL FAMILY WAS SELECTED. I REMEMBER WHEN WE ATTENDED THE AWARDS CEREMONY “LITTLE FRED” GAVE A WONDERFUL ACCEPTANCE SPEECH. IT WAS A SPEECH I WILL REMEMBER FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. I HAVE THREE SHORT MEMORABLE EXPERIENCES THAT I HAD WITH “LITTLE FRED THAT I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU AND THEN I WILL SIT DOWN. I WAS VERY THRILLED WHEN I LEARNED THAT “LITTLE FRED WOULD BE ATTENDING MY ALMA MATER MOREHOUSE COLLEGE. WHENEVER I WAS IN ATLANTA GEORGIA I WOULD DROP BY THE CAMPUS TO SEE LITTLE FRED. ON ONE OCCASION, MY SON, GREG JR. AND I WENT TO “LITTLE FRED’S” DORM ROOM IN GRAVES HALL. I TOLD “LITTLE FRED AND GREG JR. THAT I WANTED TO SHOW THEM SOMETHING. WE WALKED A FEW STEPS DOWN THE HALL ON THE THIRD FLOOR TO ROOM 313. I KNOCKED ON THE DOOR AND THE YOUNG STUDENT WHO LIVED IN THE ROOM CAME TO THE DOOR. I TOLD THE STUDENT WHO I WAS AND HE INVITED US INTO HIS ROOM. I WALKED TO THE YOUNG MAN’S CLOSET AND ASKED HIM AND “LITTLE FRED” AND “GREG JR.” TO LOOK ON THE INSIDE OF THE CLOSET AT THE WRITINGS ON THE TOP OF THE WALL. THE WORDS WRITTEN ON THE WALL WERE WRITTEN BY MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. YOU SEE, ROOM 313 WAS DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR’S DORMITORY ROOM HIS FRESHMAN YEAR AT MOREHOUSE. JUST A FEW DOORS DOWN FROM WHERE “LITTLE FRED” NOW LIVED. “LITTLE FRED” LOOKED AT ME WITH THOSE EYES FULL OF WONDER AND SAID “MR. GRIFFIN, HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT THOSE WRITINGS WERE ON THE INSIDE OF THAT CLOSET? I LOOKED AT “LITTLE FRED” AND I SAID, ROOM 313 WAS ALSO MY ROOM WHEN I WAS A FRESHMAN AT MOREHOUSE COLLEGE IN 1976. ON A SECOND OCCASION I VISITED “LITTLE FRED” BECAUSE ONE OF MY BEST FRIEND’S A FELLOW MOREHOUSE CLASSMATE, JEH CHARLES JOHNSON, FORMER GENERAL COUNSEL TO THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE AND FIRST BLACK LAW PARTNER WITH THE NEW YORK LAW FIRM PAUL WEISS CALLED ME AND ASKED IF I COULD ARRANGE FOR HIS FIRST COUSIN JOSEPH EDELIN TO MEET “LITTLE FRED”. JOSEPH’S DAD, DR. KENNETH EDELIN WAS CHAIRMAN OF THE OB/GYN DEPARTMENT AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE. HE WANTED VERY MUCH FOR HIS SON TO GRADUATE FROM MOREHOUSE COLLEGE. I HAD BEEN BRAGGING TO JEH ABOUT “LITTLE FRED” JEH KNEW THAT “LITTLE FRED LIKED MOREHOUSE. JEH’S COUSIN, JOSEPH EDELIN WAS NOT HAPPY AT MOREHOUSE AND WAS READY TO GO HOME. I ARRANGED FOR US TO HAVE BREAKFAST AT PASCHALS HOTEL. JEH FLEW IN FROM NEW YORK CITY AND I DROVE IN FROM MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA. I PICKED UP “LITTLE FRED AND WE MET JEH CHARLES JOHNSON (WHO ALSO HAPPENS TO BE ONE OF BARRACK OBAMA’S BEST FRIENDS) AND JEH’S FIRST COUSIN, JOSEPH EDELIN AT PASCHALS FOR BREAKFAST. TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT, “LITTLE FRED” CONVINCED JOSEPH EDELIN TO HANG IN THERE AND NOT GO HOME. JOSEPH EDELIN ENDED UP GRADUATING FROM MOREHOUSE COLLEGE WITH A PERFECT 4.0 AVERAGE AND IS CURRENTLY DOING WELL THANKS IN PART TO “LITTLE FRED”.  BY NOW YOU MUST BE SAYING, I KNOW LITTLE FRED GOT TIRED OF SEEING YOU! WELL THE TRUTH IS EVERY TIME I SAW LITTLE FRED I LEFT HIM WITH AS THE OLD PEOPLE SAY “A PIECE OF MONEY”. I WOULD SAY “DON’T TELL YOUR DADDY THAT I GAVE YOU THIS MONEY, “LITTLE FRED WOULD SAY, “DON’T WORRY I WON’T!” ON THE THIRD OCCASION THAT I VISITED “LITTLE FRED” HE TOOK ME ON “THE YARD” (THAT’S THE NICKNAME FOR SPELMAN COLLEGE.) WHEN WE GOT ON SPELMAN’S CAMPUS IT SEEMED LIKE EVERY GIRL THAT PASSED BY US KNEW “LITTLE FRED” THEY WERE ALL GOING “HELLO Fred Bell” HELLO FRED, HELLO FRED, THEN ONE BEAUTIFUL GIRL COMING TOWARDS US STOPPED DEAD IN HER TRACKS AND SAID HELLO FRED FRED FRED FRED BELL!!!!!!!!! I SAID LORD HAVE MERCY! WHEN I RETURNED HOME I TOLD MY WIFE DEBRA ABOUT HOW THE LADIES WERE ABOUT TO EAT LITTLE FRED UP! I TOLD HER THAT “LITTLE FRED BELL” HAD BEEN DOING A LOT OF “RINGING” ON SPELMAN’S CAMPUS. DEBRA WASN’T SURPRISED SHE SAID HE GOT THAT HONESTLY, HER AUNT EUDORA HAD TOLD DEBRA THAT, “MR BELL”, BEFORE HE MET HIS LOVELY WIFE VIRGINIA, HAD DONE A LOT OF “RINGING” AT ALABAMA STATE.” MY WIFE STILL CALLS “BIG FRED” MR. BELL BECAUSE “BIG FRED WAS HER 7TH GRADE ENGLISH TEACHER. 

IN CLOSING WHAT DO YOU SAY TO   LITTLE FRED’S FOUR LITTLE CHILDREN: I ASKED MY DAD AND HE SAID “TELL “LITTLE FRED’S” FOUR LITTLE CHILDREN THAT THEY COME FROM “THE BEST OF GENES!” YOU KNOW HE WAS RIGHT. EVERYBODY SITTING OR STANDING IN THIS CHURCH TODAY WHO KNOW “LITTLE FRED’S”, MOTHER VIRGINIA’S FAMILY, KNOW THAT EVERYBODY IN THE MOORE FAMILY IS AS SMART AS ROCKET SCIENTISTS. EVERYBODY SITTING OR STANDING IN THIS CHURCH TODAY WHO KNOW THE

BELL FAMILY KNOW THAT EVERYBODY IN THE BELL FAMILY IS AS SMART AS BRAIN SURGEONS, IN FACT “LITTLE FRED’S” GRANDMOTHER PRACTICED MEDICINE IN LOWNDNES COUNTY FOR MORE THAN 40 YEARS AND NEVER STEPPED FOOT IN A MEDICAL SCHOOL CLASSROOM. IN FACT SHE PROBABLY DELIVERED MANY OF YOU SITTING OR STANDING IN THIS CHURCH TODAY. “LITTLE FRED WAS VERY HUMBLE. HE NEVER WALKED AROUND WITH HIS RIGHT HIP ON HIS SHOULDER. HE NEVER BRAGGED ABOUT THE POLITICAL INFLUENCE THAT HIS UNCLE DOUG MOORE HAS EXERCISED BOTH STATEWIDE AND NATIONALLY FOR THE LAST THIRTY YEARS. HE NEVER BRAGGED ABOUT THE BEAUTIFUL SINGING VOICE THAT HIS MOTHER POSSESSED. HE JUST ENJOYED LISTENING TO HER SING.

ON MONDAY MORNING FEBRUARY 4, 2007 WE LOOKED FOR LITTLE FRED AND HE WAS GONE. HE WENT TO A PLACE WHERE HE HAS NOTHING TO DO BUT JUST WALK AROUND HEAVEN ALL DAY LONG. WHEN LITTLE FRED GOT TO HEAVEN HE BEGAN TO SING AND SHOUT, NOBODY COULD PUT HIM OUT! LITTLE FRED’S GRANDMOTHERS AND GRANDFATHERS AND OTHER LOVED ONES TOO WERE WAITING FOR HIM WITH

OPEN ARMS, THEY ALL JOINED HANDS WHEN THE LORD TOLD LITTLE FRED, JOB WELL DONE, YOUR RACE HAS BEEN WON, THAT’S WHEN THEY ALL WALKED AROUND HEAVEN ALL DAY LONG.