ELAINE RUSSELL OBITUARY

Russell, Elaine M. Hess

March 27, 1933 - January 7, 2023

Elaine M. Hess Russell, lifelong Omaha educator and devoted community volunteer, passed away Saturday in Durham, NC surrounded by family. She was 89. A graduate of Omaha's Central High School, she then studied at Vassar and the University of Nebraska Lincoln.

For 30 years, Elaine taught social studies, language arts, and dance at Lewis and Clark Junior High. She founded the first Omaha Public Schools dance program, organized, yearly school musicals and, in 1988, received the inaugural Alice Buffet Outstanding Teacher Award.

In retirement, Elaine volunteered with numerous Omaha civic, Church, and charitable organizations, mentoring students, organizing intergenerational art and dance activities, and raising funds for refugees and environmental causes. She was named 2012 Catholic Woman of the Year by the Saint Margaret Mary Parish.

With her husband Ed, she ventured to Europe, Asia and the United States on educational travel and visiting family members.

She is survived by her daughter Jill Lile; her son Mark Wiesner; her late husband Edmund Russell's eight children; 25 grandchildren; and an ever-growing number of great-grandchildren. 

SERVICES will be held at Saint Margaret Mary's on January 28th, with VISITATION from 10-11am, followed by MASS. in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Immigrant Legal Center, 4223 Center St, Omaha, NE.

Published by Omaha World-Herald on Jan. 15, 2023.