Linda Sue Russell of East Hampton, who loved music, old movies, fishing, and, most of all, cracking lots of good-natured jokes, died at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital on Nov. 13. She was 71 and had been in declining health.
Her lifelong goal, her family wrote, was to be happy and raise a family, and that she did. In September 1965, she married Collis Edward Russell, whom her family called her “sidekick.” He called her Lynn. Mrs. Russell gave birth to four children; a fifth was stillborn. Later, their family grew to include many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and she had been excited to soon become a great-great-grandmother as well.
Born Linda Sue Ward in Southampton on Nov. 18, 1949, a daughter of Jenny Jones, she grew up on Town Lane in a neighborhood then called Hayesville, where many family members lived. She graduated from East Hampton High School, and was later employed in the school kitchen. She also worked as a housekeeper for Steve Ross, chief executive of the Time Warner Corporation.
Mrs. Russell was the proud niece of the late Lt. Lee A. Hayes, a member of the 477th Bombardment Group of the Tuskegee Airmen, for whom the East Hampton Town Youth Park was recently dedicated. Lieutenant Hayes affectionately called her “Poochie;” later, she was known to many as Susie.
She “will truly be missed, and Morris Park Lane in East Hampton will never be the same without you,” the family said.
Her husband died in 2017. Her children are Faye Russell, Felicia Russell, Sonja Russell, and Kyle Russell, all residents of East Hampton. She also leaves a stepson, Christopher Russell of Kennebunkport, Me., and seven siblings: Rita Barnard, Donna Jones, Debra Jones, Marylin Jones, Wendy Jones, and Gary Jones, all of East Hampton, and Johnny Hayes of Hampton Bays.
Mrs. Russell was cremated. The family has suggested donations to the American Cancer Society, online at cancer.org.
