Alice Bell, Sotheby's Brokerage Manager, Remembered Fondly

Those who worked with Alice Bell at Sotheby’s International Realty said she cared deeply about everyone’s work and well-being.

“She was a good lady,” said senior vice president and associate broker Harald Grant. “She was a friend and a mentor, rather than a boss. She treated everybody fairly and with respect, and she put everybody ahead of herself.”

Ms. Bell, who lived in Water Mill, died on December 17 at the age of 72.

As the brokerage manager of the Sotheby’s eastern region, Ms. Bell directly oversaw about 20 to 30 agents at the firm’s Southampton and Sag Harbor offices, and roughly the same number indirectly at the East Hampton and Bridgehampton offices.

Marketing coordinator Lianne Alcon, who worked with Ms. Bell in Southampton, described her as “a little, petite woman with a big heart and character.”

“She was like the office’s den mother,” Ms. Alcon said. “Everyone’s feeling a great loss.”

Ms. Bell had joined Sotheby’s as a sales associate in 1994, going on to serve as manager of the East Hampton office in 2002, then senior vice president of the eastern region from 2010 to 2015.

Before joining Sotheby’s, she had a career in film and advertising, working as an assistant director, producer and executive producer on feature films alongside movie stars and CEOs of major corporations and advertising agencies. Ms. Bell was one of the first women to be granted membership in the Directors Guild of America.

She moved to Water Mill in the 1980s, according to her nephew Mark Krumper, a producer whose professional life she nurtured as well.

“I’ve gotten so many letters from people from the film business, and Sotheby’s, who said if it wasn’t for Alice they never would be where they are now,” he said. “She had faith in them—she was a major influence on a lot of people.”

Ms. Bell’s longtime companion, Richard Shuster, died in November 2012. She is survived by two nephews, Mark and Paul Krumper, and three great-nephews. Burial at the Water Mill Cemetery followed a funeral on December 20.

Donations for a bench dedicated to the memory of Ms. Bell and Mr. Shuster can be made to LongHouse Reserve, 133 Hands Creek Road, East Hampton, NY 11937.

“She was ... just a very kind and fair lady with great integrity … transparent, what you saw was what you got,” said Mr. Grant. “She was what everyone wants to be when you reach that pinnacle in your life.”