Melvyn Bell, Ensco Founder, Dies at 68

Melvyn Bell of Little Rock died Saturday after a long battle with cancer. He was 68.

Bell's family plans a private funeral "at a later date." He was cremated. His obituary is available .

Bell was CEO for Environmental Systems Co., or Ensco, and a partner of Bell Burrough Brasuell & Uerling. His investments and ownerships were myriad. Among them, Bell was a former owner of the Magic Springs theme park in Hot Springs, and he had owned Belvedere Country Club in Hot Springs.

Other interests included CBA Development, a management firm for Indian casino gambling; the Dogpatch theme park near Jasper; the Red Apple Inn resort near Heber Springs; Fountainhead Lodge on Lake Eufaula in Oklahoma; Market Street Plaza in west Little Rock; KPAL radio station in Little Rock, recognized nationally for its innovative childrenð# programming; Monarch Mill & Lumber Co. in Little Rock; Architectural Antiques Ltd.; and Creative Culinary Systems, which included such Little Rock eateries as SOB restaurant, Alexanderð# and the Heights Fish House.

In a 1987 Arkansas Business story about Bell's numerous investments, the then 49-year-old Ensco chairman was sly about his business interests.

"I'm happy to report that there are other things I've got involved in and nobody knows anything about them," he said.

Market Crash

While Bell found great fortune in the 1980s, the end of the decade saw the beginning of a chain of events that left him in precarious legal and financial positions for much of the rest of his life.

Bellð# financial freefall began on ðòlack and BlueðÐMonday on Oct. 19, 1987.

In two months alone, the market crushed his Ensco holdings from $42.3 million to $21.7 million.

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