Ella Jean Russell

Jean was born on February 8th, 1935, to Roy Belt and Sarah (Upchurch) Stephenson in

Jamestown, Tennessee, before making her way to Indiana where she worked as a supervisor at

Westinghouse in Muncie. It was there that she met her husband, Charles “Paul” Russell and

they were married on June 6th, 1974. The two went on to open their own restaurant, the

Honeydew, in Yorktown in 1979, where their motto was “We serve the Lord first, our customers

immediately thereafter”.

To know Jean meant that you always felt loved and you never went hungry! She said that food

was her ministry and she meant it. If you were sick, she’d show up at your door with her

homemade vegetable or sick soup. Every Thanksgiving she’d say that she wasn’t going to go

overboard but would end up making food to feed an entire neighborhood (and sometimes did).

Christmas was her favorite holiday though, because she loved giving to others and seeing

others smile.

Jean had a teddy bear for every member of her family on her tree and would spend hours handcrafting beautiful bows and ribbons to decorate the packages underneath. Every year she would also deliver homemade pies, cookies and candies to her friends, family and neighbors.

Jean loved to craft, fish, bowl and play cards. She made the most beautiful hand stitched quilts

and was the first to get picked as a partner if there was ever a friendly game of NERTZ on the

table!

Jean is survived by her children, Brenda (David) Osborn of Muncie, Teresa Pickett of Yorktown,

and Laura (Russell) Cooper of Conway, SC; eight grandchildren, Jeff (Kelly) Danner, Jessica

Halloway, Amanda Easterly, Steven Pickett, Jeanne Pickett, Russell (Brooke) Cooper,

Christopher Cooper and Joshua Cooper; twenty great-grandchildren, Grant Danner, Braden Danner, KC Danner, Declan Morgan, Sara Fenton, Abbie Easterly, Ethan Easterly, Jax Crum, Levy Crum, Anna Crum, Faith, Alexis, Lillee, Hayley, Reed, Bentley, Hunter, Lillian, JJ and Hunter; a sister-in-law, Faye Belt.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Charles Paul Russell; brother, John D Belt; and her

parents, Sara Stephenson and Roy Belt.

As per Jean’s wishes, cremation will take place and her family will gather privately to celebrate

her life in the near future.

In lieu of flowers and gifts, Jean’s family has requested that donations be made to one of her

favorite organizations, The Wounded Warrior Project. https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/donate.

Elm Ridge Funeral Home has been entrusted with arrangements.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be given at www.elmridgefuneralhome.com.