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John Bell III, the deputy executive director for the Office of Mission Support at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), has died, according to posts on LinkedIn.
Tim Rood, founder and CEO of Impact Capitol, shared the news in a post on Wednesday evening.
“I wanted to make sure that folks knew that John Bell III, most recently Executive Director for VA Loan Guaranty Service, has passed away following an extended illness,” Rood wrote. “He will be sorely missed by anyone who knew him or worked with him. John was a tremendous guy with a big heart who loved delivering VA Home Loan Benefits to his fellow Veterans. RIP, Brother.”
In August, the VA told HousingWire that Bell was taking on the role of deputy executive director after serving as executive director of the VA’s Loan Guaranty Service (LGY) since 2022.
Bell, a U.S. Navy veteran, joined LGY after 15 years with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Before that, he managed Bank of America’s VA loan portfolio for seven years and worked at several lenders after starting his mortgage career in college in Tennessee, according to his bio.
“Bell leveraged his industry experience to reduce loan closing timeframes for VA-guaranteed loans and implement modernization of systems. Under Mr. Bell’s tenure, the program excelled, increasing VA’s market share from 1% to 12%,” his bio reads.
At the VA, Bell helped steer the agency’s home loan program through major policy shifts, including a new foreclosure prevention bill to replace post-pandemic relief measures.
Bell was also instrumental in developing the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase (VASP) program, which attempted to prevent foreclosure actions against military members who were experiencing financial hardships tied to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A formal obituary has not been released.
The VA shared a statement from Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Benefits, Margarita Devlin: “John Bell was a talented and trusted leader with nearly 15 years of service to the Department of Veterans Affairs. He will be deeply missed by his VA colleagues as well as countless Veterans he served and helped over the years. We grieve for his friends and loved ones during this difficult time.”
