Gladys Lynette (Espe) RUSSELL

RUSSELL, ESPE, JOHNSON, KREITLOW, BONTE

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 3/29/2008 at 12:29:34

KANAWHA -Gladys Lynette Russell, 93, of Kanawha, died Friday (Feb. 25, 2000) at the Kanawha Community Home. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Kanawha Lutheran Church in Kanawha with the Rev. Keith Sievers officiating. Burial will be in Norway Township Cemetery, rural Kanawha. Visitation will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. today at Ewing Dugger Funeral Home in Kanawha and one hour prior to services at the church.

Gladys, the daughter of Austin and Mariane Johnson Espe, was born Nov. 12, 1906, in Wright County south of Kanawha. She grew up south of Kanawha where she attended country school. She graduated from Eagle Grove High School in 1925, where she received her Normal Training Teaching Certificate. She then taught in the rural Wright County schools. She was united in marriage to Glenn Russell on Nov. 24, 1938, at the home of her parents. Following their marriage, the couple lived in Belmond for several years, before moving to their home place south of Kanawha in 1948. She continued teaching throughout her life, retiring from the Kanawha School in 1965. She was baptized and a confirmed member of the St. John's Lutheran Church, where she was a lifelong member. Her life was centered on her church. She was a member of the ELCW, Circle Bible Study and taught Sunday school for many years. She was also a member of the Home Study Club in Belmond. She enjoyed spending time with family and friends, having coffee company and doing crossword puzzles.

She is survived by one daughter, Marcia Kreitlow and her husband, Harley, of Kanawha; two grandchildren, Patricia Kreitlow of Ankeny, and Douglas Kreitlow and his wife, Diana, of Kanawha; three great-grandsons, Benjamin, William and Joshua; one brother, Lawrence Espe and his wife, Alice, of Clarion; two sisters-in-law, Frances Espe of Portland, Ore., and Doris Bonte of Belmond. She is preceded in death by her parents, husband, Glenn, in 1994, and three brothers, Clarence in infancy, Harlan and Leroy.

Mason City Globe Gazette
February 28, 2000