Myra Ellen Russell

Myra Ellen (Lindsey) Russell, 99, died Oct. 20, 2011, at the Entiat Valley Senior Home where she had lived for almost 10 years. Born on May 20, 1912, in East St. Louis, Illinois, she was raised in Spokane. After graduating from Eastern Washington Normal School at Cheney in 1932 during the Depression, she moved to Big Timber, Montana, where she worked in her Aunt Sophie Alden's home laundry while getting the credentials to teach in Montana. She taught all grades at a country school in Sioux Crossing, Montana, for two terms (one year). She earned $60 a month and paid $15 a month for room and board for a small lean-to built on the side of a house with no electricity and no hot water. In winter, her blankets froze to the walls. She was on a train from Spokane going back to Montana for a third term when she received a telegram offering her a teaching position in Entiat. She got off the train at the next stop, telegrammed an acceptance, and took the next train back to Spokane. In 1934, she took a bus to Entiat where she took a room at Belle Cumbo's boarding house. At the time, Belle's son, Babe Russell, was off working for the Forest Service. He came home early one morning and dumped all the teacher's beds over. And that is how she met her future husband. Bradford Farris Russell and Myra Ellen Lindsey were married on Nov. 21, 1939, in Wenatchee. They lived all of their married lives in Entiat, except for a couple of years in Spokane during World War II. They had been married for 56 years when Babe died in 1995. Myra taught school in Entiat for 29-1/2 years, retiring in 1975. She taught 6th grade until her marriage, when she quit teaching for 10 years. She packed apples at Wagnersburg and the Entiat Warehouse for a short time. After she had her two daughters, she returned to teaching in 1949 at the 4th grade level. She spent the rest of her career teaching the fourth grade, occasionally in a fourth-fifth combination. Her largest class was 48 children and her smallest was 18. She often helped write and produce large school Christmas programs. Myra had a lifelong love of animals. She always had a number of cats and dogs. For several years, she had a pet skunk named Sassy who loved salad. Myra also liked to plant flowers and care for them. Myra and Babe lived just outside the city limits of the old town of Entiat until construction of the Rocky Reach Dam required the whole town to relocate. They moved with their daughters, horses, cats and Pomeranian, Fuzzy, to the Shamley cattle ranch in Crum Canyon where they lived with a large variety of animals for the next 37 years. After Babe's death, Myra moved to a mobile home on two acres, five miles up the Entiat River road. Just before her 90th birthday she moved to the Entiat Valley Senior Home where she lived until her death. Myra was preceded in death by her husband Bradford "Babe" Russell, her parents James and Pauline (Rauch) Lindsey, her brother Charles Lindsey, and her nephew Steve Lindsey. She is survived by her two daughters, Pat Richardson of Anchorage, Alaska, and Pam (Michael) Peck of Warden; five grandchildren, Court (Keri) Shipley of Wenatchee, Tara Shipley of Entiat, Emily (Sanjay) Chaudhury of Portland, Oregon, Michelle Peck of Moses Lake, and Dustin Peck of Phoenix, Arizona; seven great-grandchildren, Tyler J. Shipley of Entiat, Bradley and Holly Shipley of Wenatchee, Lexi Peck of Moses Lake, Raj Chaudhury of Portland, and Kirra and Phoenix Peck of Phoenix; sister-in-law Huldah Pirie of Spokane; nephew Jim "Jake" Lindsey of Ocean Shores; niece Gail Kimberly of Chattaroy; close friends Ray and Terri Sandidge and Dan and Cindy Wood. After her husband died, the Sandidge family helped Myra live independently until she was almost 90. The Wood family gave her great care and quality of life during her last 10 years. Funeral Arrangements are in the care of Heritage Memorial Chapel, East Wenatchee, WA.

Myra Ellen Russell

May 20, 1912 - October 20, 2011