[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.
    




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