Alice Norma Russell, 85, died peacefully on Monday, October 27, 2014.
Alice’s parents were immigrants from Switzerland who met in English class. Alice the youngest of seven children, was born in Sebastian, Tx., where she lived on a cotton plantation for the first ten years of her life. Thereafter, she lived in many places including Worcester, Ma.; San Bernadino, Anaheim, and Hemet, Ca.; and finally in Chattanooga.
In her younger years she and her sisters were models. Always up to antics, Alice’s sisters changed her birth-year on her application so that she would be old enough to model with them. Later, Alice worked as a Licensed Practical Nurse in a mental hospital in Massachusetts. She always got along well with her patients, even when the other nurses struggled with them. Her advice: “Be nice to them and they’ll be nice to you.” Alice was an excellent bowler and was still bowling at age 80! She also enjoyed gardening and always had beautiful flowers and fruit trees in her gardens. Alice was proud of her granddaughters and great-grandsons. She loved her family and cared for her sisters as they developed dementia and progressed through their diseases. Sadly, Alice was well aware of the hurdles she faced when she, herself, began exhibiting symptoms of dementia. She was a loving lady and maintained her unique personality and sense of humor even as her disease progressed. Alice had beautiful blue eyes that saw far beyond what was on the surface, a sweet smile that could cure even the worst day, a sense of humor that was consistently surprising, and a kind heart, all of which she kept until she passed.
Alice was preceded in death by her parents, Frank and Maria Gustafson; husband, Ralph Russell; brothers, George Gustafson, Warren Gustafson, Allen Gustafson, Walter Gustafson; sisters, Marion Pederson and Vera DePinto; and her daughter, Marie Manning.
Survivors include her granddaughters, Candice (Jason) Heaton and Bylinda (James) Bell; and great-grandsons, Christian Heaton, Connor Nelson and William Nelson.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m on Saturday, Nov. 8, at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church on Ashland Terrace with Reverend Doctor Robert Nichols officiating. Interment will follow at Christ Church Episcopal Garden in Chattanooga.
The family will receive friends at 10 a.m. prior to the service at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church.