Cleo E. Russell

Russell, Cleo E., nee Michals, August 23, 2008. She was born August 20, 1920 in Norton, Kansas and moved to Greeley, CO at the age of 16. She graduated from Colorado State Teachers College High, lived and worked as a medical records librarian at Weld County Hospital. She married Dr. Henry N. Russell, Jr. in 1949 and moved to Grosse Ile, MI in 1956 with their 5 children, Henry N. Russell, III of Grosse Ile, Dr. William A. Russell of Alexandria, VA, Robert A. Russell of Carmel, IN, Claudia B. Gordon of Gibraltar, MI and Barbara Russell-Willett of Portsmouth, RI. She also was blessed with a baker's dozen (13) grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren. In Michigan she continued her education at Mercy College in Detroit. Cleo excelled in music, architectural design, theater and cooking. She was a former member and president of several local organizations including the Grosse Ile Musicale, the Parent Teacher Association of Park Lane Elementary School, the Wise Wives Investment Club and Grosse Pointe Theater Arts Club. She and her late husband were also members of St. James Episcopal Church on Grosse Ile. She enjoyed art, antiques and home decorating, but her greatest love was her family. She lived the last 5 years of her life at the Rivergate Terrace in Riverview, MI where she was well cared for and passed away peacefully with her family around her.