Rena Russell

Rena Kate Russell, 86, died Saturday, June 25, 2005 at NHC HealthCare in Johnson City. A native of Sugar Grove, Virginia she lived most of her life in Marion, Virginia before moving to Johnson City in 2000. She was a daughter of the late Fielden Harvey and Annis Nora (Whisman) Harrington. She was retired from the Southwestern State Hospital in Marion, Virginia after thirty-five and a half years of dedicated service as a telephone switchboard operator and supervisor. Mrs. Russell was a Christian and a member Falling Water Baptist Church in Marion. She loved to work in her garden and delighted in sharing her canned and frozen fruits and vegetables with her family and friends. She loved sports, particularly basketball, since she played in high school as well as several years in an industrial league for Southwestern State Hospital. Mrs. Russell was Miss Sugar Grove in 1934 and participated in the Miss Virginia beauty pageant that same year. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband of fifty-one years, William Garfield Russell in January 1988; two sisters; and six brothers. Survivors include two sons and daughters-in-law, William Bryant "Buddy" Russell and his wife Nancy, of Johnson City, and David Allen Russell and his wife Betty, of Clarksville, VA; a brother Paul D. Harrington, of Elon, NC; a sister, Frieda Harrington Stamper, of Raleigh, NC. Also surviving are four grandchildren, William Bryant Russell, Jr. and his wife, Cynthia, of Sterling, VA, Nancy Elizabeth Parker and her husband Joey, Knoxville, Jennifer Whitlock and her husband Bud, Burlington, NC, and Sara Sweet and her husband, Kin, Sarasota, FL. Four great-grandchildren also survive. The family of Rena Kate Russell will receive friends in Johnson City at the Morris Baker Funeral Home on Sunday, June 26, 2005 from 3:00 until 5:00 PM. A second visitation will be held in Marion, Virginia at Seaver-Brown Funeral Home on Monday, June 27, 2005 from 6:00 until 8:00 PM. A funeral service for Mrs. Russell will be held on Tuesday, June 28, 2005 at 11:00 AM from the Seaver-Brown Funeral Home. The Reverends Mike Sage and Tim Boyette will officiate. Entombment will follow in the Roselawn Cemetery. Family and friends will serve as pallbearers. For those who wish, memorial donations may be made to Falling Water Baptist Church, 2206 Highway Sixteen Marion, VA 24354 or the Alzheimer's Foundation, Northeast Tennessee Southwest Virginia Chapter, 207 N. Boone St., Suite 1500, Johnson City, TN 37604.