RUSSELL, Patricia Elizabeth
(nee Tarrant)
December 22, 1924 – February 25, 2013
It is with great sadness that the family of Pat Russell announces her passing on February 25, 2013 in Edmonton due to a stroke. Patricia (Pat) Tarrant was born in Wimbledon, England to Arthur and Bertha Tarrant and grew up in East Horsley. Pat was one of four daughters.
Pat met her husband, Wallace Russell (Russ), during the war and they married on September 4, 1943. Pat came to Canada as a war bride on the Aquitania in 1946 and they settled in Ladysmith where her twin daughters were born the next year. In 1954 Russ joined the RCAF and they moved to Winnipeg and then Red Deer. While in Red Deer Pat worked for Eaton’s, a time she always remembered very fondly. In 1961 Russ was stationed in Germany for four years. Pat gave birth to two more children there. The family returned to North Bay in 1965 and finally settled in Red Deer in 1970 when Russ retired from the military. Pat moved to Edmonton in 2005 to be closer to family.
Pat loved children. She raised four of her own, helped care for all of her grandchildren and volunteered at schools as well. Pat was an amazing knitter and sewer. She loved to garden and was happiest when she was outside. Her family was the most important thing to her.
Pat was predeceased by her loving husband, Russ (2000), and son-in-law, Ernest Munro (1998). She was also predeceased by her sisters, Pamela Barwick and Moya Mills in England. Her surviving sister, Fran Belsham, lives in England.
Pat is survived by her children, Anne Munro of Thorold, Ontario, Deborah Halldorson (Bill) of Edmonton, Alberta , David Russell (Darlene) of Penticton, BC, and Susan Wakefield (Doug) of Ladysmith, BC. She is also survived by seven grandchildren, Neal Munro and Kelly Dionne, Joshua, Rachel and Katie Halldorson, Emily and Ethan Russell and two great-grandsons, Kaleb and Hayden Dionne. She is also survived by two sisters-in-law, Bertha Smith (Milton) and Ethel Russell, and twelve nieces and nephews in Canada and England.
A memorial service was held on Saturday, March 2, 2013, at Waterford at Summerlea where she has resided since 2005. Pat and Russ’s ashes will be spread over Ladysmith Harbour later this summer.
Donations may be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Alberta, NWT & Nunavut, 10985-124 Street NW, Edmonton, Alberta T5M 0H9 or to Operation Eyesight, 4 Parkdale Crescent NW, Calgary, Alberta T2N 3T8.