Carol Vivian Russ

Carol was born August 22, 1939, in Dallas, Texas to Vivian Fuller Russ and James Leo Russ. She was the middle child of three and had two loving brothers, Jim Russ and Mike Russ. After moving to Atlanta when she was a young child, Carol graduated from North Fulton High School in 1957, attended Auburn University and then married George Thomas Varner in 1959. After graduation, they returned to Atlanta and started a family.

While raising her two children, George Thomas, Jr (Tom) and Vivian Elizabeth (Betsy), she volunteered and eventually became the bookkeeper at The Link Counseling Center. After becoming a single mom, Carol began working in an office supply store as well as an overnight switchboard operator to make ends meet. Through her work in the office supply store, she learned the business and made strong connections with people in the industry. Eventually, she courageously opened her own commercial design business, Furniture Concepts, Inc. Through her hard work, ability to connect with people, and natural eye for design, she led a very successful and rewarding business until she retired in 2008. She was very proud of the many professional offices she designed, often pointing out medical waiting rooms she designed as she was in her final battle with cancer.

After retiring and remarrying, she moved to Highlands NC where she was a very active volunteer in her church and discovered a passion for long hikes in the wilderness and traveling with her husband. Carol moved back to Atlanta in 2016 to be closer to family. While Carol was proud of her success and self-reliance, her true joy came from being with her children and all her extended family in Atlanta. She was known for her easy-going nature, good sense of humor and consistent loving presence in the lives of her friends and family.

Carol was preceded in death by her parents, Jim and Vivian, and is survived by her children, Tom and Betsy (John), her grandchildren, Casey, Carol and Joseph (Molly), her brothers Mike (Jean) and Jim (Joy), and cherished nieces and nephews. A private burial for the family will be held at Arlington Cemetery followed by a service for all at Sandy Springs Chapel on October 5th at 12 o’clock. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in her honor to the Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research.