[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 100 (Wednesday, July 9, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1439-E1440]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
REMEMBERING FORMER SOUTH CAROLINA FIRST LADY VIRGINIA RUSSELL
______
HON. JOE WILSON
of south carolina
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, July 9, 2003
Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, during the Fourth of July
District Work Period, I attended funerals of heroes of South Carolina
who will always be remembered--former First Lady Virginia Russell on
June 30, former U.S. Senate President Strom Thurmond on July 1, and
Sergeant O.J. Smith on July 2, who served with distinction in Iraq in
the War Against Terrorism.
Virginia Russell was special to me as the mother of my State Senate
seatmate for 14 years, John Russell. Also in 1962, I met her
campaigning for her husband running successfully for Governor while I
was delivering the Charleston Evening Post on King Street in
Charleston, SC, at Fralix Shoe Shop. She so inspired my political
involvement that I contacted Campaign Manager J. Bratton Davis and I
served as youth Campaign Manager for Charleston in the June primary.
The following is an article and obituary from the Spartanburg Herald-
Journal regarding her death.
[From the Spartanburg Herald-Journal, June 28, 2003]
Donald Russell's Widow Dies
(By Janet S. Spencer)
Former South Carolina first lady Virginia Russell died
Friday at her home on Otis Boulevard after an extended
illness.
Mrs. Russell was the widow of the Honorable Donald S.
Russell who was governor from 1963 to 1965 and then served as
a federal judge.
In addition to numerous contributions to her community and
the dedication to her family, she is remembered for her role
as first lady of the state as well as of the University of
South Carolina when her husband was president there.
While living in the governor's mansion, Mrs. Russell
noticed state seals that had been painted over for many years
on the mantle in a large drawing room.
She is credited with having the seals uncovered and brought
out in gold relief. They remain that way today.
Mrs. Russell also was responsible for first encouraging
tours of the mansion.
Her neighbors, Mary and Thomas Stokes, remember moving to
their new residence in Spartanburg as the youngest couple on
the street and Mrs. Russell opening her home to them.
``She was a genteel Southern lady. I always felt she was so
thoughtful of others from the first time she welcomed us to
her home and the neighborhood,'' Mrs. Stokes said. ``She
always went out of her way to be thoughtful of other
people.''
Stokes agreed with his wife. ``Mrs. Russell was certainly a
lady in the finest tradition of the word,'' he said.
``Mr. and Mrs. Russell were wonderful people.''
John Edmunds, who had been friends with the Russells for 45
years, recalls being a student at USC when the Russells were
there.
Mrs. Russell decorated his fraternity house and invited
every student to dinner their freshman and senior years.
``She loved the university. She was a very brilliant, well-
read woman. She could converse with you on any subject. She
kept up with current events,'' Edmunds said.
After returning to Spartanburg, for many years Edmunds had
dinner weekly with the Russells at the Piedmont Club.
``She was witty and charming. And although she had been in
declining health for some time, I'm gonna miss her,'' Edmunds
said.
For 11 years, Mrs. Russell had also won the hearts of
caregivers who often called her ``pretty lady.''
Martina Smalley is a registered nurse and director of
Professional Nursing Services that provided around-the-clock
care for Mrs. Russell at the Russell residence.
Smalley said she and the three nurses who rotated the
duties were deeply saddened by Mrs. Russell's death.
``She was such a warm and gracious lady. In the 11 years we
were privileged to care for her, we came to love her as if
she were our own mother,'' Smalley said.
Smalley described a mutual strong bond of trust and respect
which she and the nurses shared with Mrs. Russell.
``She was very appreciative of everyone's kindness and
thoughtfulness. She had a way of making everyone feel
special,'' Smalley said.
The caregivers recall how Mrs. Russell eagerly let it be
known how much her husband and family meant to her.
[[Page E1440]]
``The saddest time in her life was when she lost her
husband, and the saddest time in all our nursing careers is
the loss of such a grand and gracious lady,'' Smalley said.
Caring for Mrs. Russell was described by Smalley as a once
in a lifetime experience.
``And it's one we will never forget,'' she said.
Among Mrs. Russell's survivors are sons, John of
Spartanburg, Don of Columbia and Scott Russell of Houston,
Texas.
Funeral arrangements will be announced by the Lanford-
Pollard Funeral Home.
____
[From the Spartanburg Herald-Journal, June 30, 2003]
Virginia U. Russell
Virginia Russell, 97, of 716 Otis Boulevard, Spartanburg,
died on Friday, June 27, 2003, after a long illness.
Graveside services will be held today, Monday, June 30,
2003, at 10:30 a.m. at Greenlawn Memorial Gardens in
Spartanburg with the Rev. Lawrence F. Hayes officiating.
The family will receive friends immediately following the
service at the graveside. Memorials can be made to the
Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia,
S.C. 29208 or to the charity of one's choice.
Mrs. Russell was born in St. George, South Carolina on May
14, 1906 to the late Mary Carrol Utsey and Walker Scott
Utsey.
She was married for seventy-two years to Donald Stuart
Russell, who predeceased her in 1998. They met as students at
USC. She was a campus beauty and elected as May Queen. After
marriage, she was a school teacher, and he, a lawyer in
Union. From there to Spartanburg, and then to Washington,
D.C., during the Roosevelt era. After the war, the Russells
came back to South Carolina, and Donald Russell became
President of USC from 1951 to 1957.
Virginia Russell was responsible for the creation of the
Presidents Home on the Horseshoe, and for its openness to
everyone, especially the students. She is remembered for the
lavish dinners she prepared for every senior class.
Mrs. Russell had substance, as well as great style--working
hard in the gardens around the campus as well as in the
kitchen for entertainments. She was a masterful cook with a
collection of nearly three thousand cookbooks. Another great
talent and love was needlepoint. She preferred Maggie Lane
designs and was truly prodigious in making many beautiful
rugs and tapestries. Her hands were never idle, nor her mind.
She shared a passion for English and American History with
her husband.
Virginia Russell was always actively involved in her
husband's campaigns. He was elected Governor of South
Carolina in 1962. As First Lady, she over saw major
construction on the unsound Governor's Mansion and in the
process brought a new level of elegance and beauty to the
home. The family's personal financial resources were used for
both the President's Home at USC and the Governor's Mansion
and their grounds. Both the Russells were truly service
oriented and cared greatly for the people they served.
Upon Donald Russell's election as governor, Mrs. Russell
decided to forego the customary formal inaugural in favor of
a barbecue for the people of the state, including blacks and
whites of all social standings. The event was covered in Time
Magazine since it occurred at the height of the civil rights
movement.
While Governor Russell was in office, the couple
established an open-house policy in the Governor's Mansion.
Groups and individuals were welcomed at all hours. The
governor personally answered his phone and Mrs. Russell, who
liked to entertain, encouraged school tours to walk through
the mansion.
Once, she told The State Newspaper that, ``the size of
crowds never worried me. It's as easy to plan for one hundred
as for ten and I enjoy people so much.''
Later in life, Governor and Mrs. Russell were regularly
cited as examples of a political couple who balanced personal
lives and professional duties. Governor Russell once told The
State that, ``She encourages me to do my best.''
She was a loving wife, devoted and generous mother and
grandmother and always a steadfast friend.
Surviving are her children, a daughter, Mildred Russell
Neiman of Clinton, South Carolina; three sons, Donald Stuart
Russell, Jr. of Columbia, South Carolina, Walker Scott
Russell of New Orleans, Louisiana and John Richardson Russell
of Spartanburg; and nine grandchildren.
We, the Russell Family, would like to convey our love to
her three nurses, JoAnne Best, Ann Brock, and Evelyn
Tomberlin, whom we appreciate very much.
____________________