Carol Ann (Isbister) Russell

Carol Ann Russell was a modest woman, quiet and observant in her ways. She was trustworthy and traditional in her approach to her life and in her relationships. She was also a woman who was meticulous, carefully disciplined, and orderly in virtually everything she undertook. Realistic about life, she was always at the ready, prepared to take on responsibility.

      Carol was born on February 19, 1946 at Barnet Hospital in Barnet, England. Her parents were Jemima and Donald Isbister. Carol was raised in Fenton, Saskatchewan. She was brought up to be self-confident and dependable. These were traits that would serve her well throughout her life.

      Growing up in the Isbister household was a bit different than most homes. Even though there were challenges, there were many good times to be had. Carol was raised with five siblings. She had 2 brothers, Ken and Harold, and three sisters, Judy, Wendy and Debbie. Carol was constantly involved in activities with her brothers and sisters. Carol and her siblings may have had the typical rivalries while growing up but Carol was always consistently loyal to her family.

      As a young child, Carol was never someone who needed to be the center of attention. She wasn’t pushy and never forced her way into games or other activities. Carol developed a variety of interests, though, and the things she enjoyed doing she did well. She was always curious about the world around her and was often eager to explore it. Carol took part in volleyball and curling and she was a member of the 4-H club. In her spare time she liked to read and knit. However, what Carol enjoyed most was simply playing and spending time with her many friends.

      While her teachers and even her friends generally thought of Carol as being a serious person, she managed to have a pretty good time in high school as she made that critical transition from adolescence to adulthood. She graduated from Composite High School in 1964. She enjoyed some courses more than others, having favourite classes and teachers. Her favourite subject in high school was math. The teacher she enjoyed learning from the most was Mr. Warick. Carol was a very logical person who enjoyed learning about factual information.

      College life brought with it a new set of challenges, but Carol handled them well. Carol was able to focus on the task at hand in order to complete her class work. The ability to efficiently complete the task at hand was a skill that served Carol well during her college experience. She earned her teacher's certificate from the Manitoba Teacher's College.

      Always considered to be a solid friend, Carol was fortunate to have numerous acquaintances and several very close friends during her life. Carol was able to see beneath the surface of relationships and became a true friend to those who knew her. She was committed to her friends and valued the trust she placed in them. It was not uncommon for Carol to go beyond the call of duty for others, and friends frequently sought her out for advice because she had a knack for coming up with practical solutions to any type of dilemma. While growing up, some of her best friends were Sharon Hennesey and Ida Walls. Later in life, she stayed friends with Sharon and Ida, and became friends with Peggy Graham. Carol had an extensive friend circle that she nurtured with phone calls and letters regularly.

      On July 15th, 1967 Carol exchanged wedding vows with James Dennis Russell at the St. Alban Anglican Church of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Compassionate and devoted to Jim, Carol held endearing, traditional values about marriage and family life. She took the responsibility of marriage to heart, giving it her total commitment. She was a source of strength to Jim and using her gifts at nurturing one-on-one relationships, she worked hard to make her new family happy.

      Carol brought the same traditional values in her marriage to bear on how she raised her children. She was a good parent to them, always firm yet fair in her dealings. She would always listen carefully and think things through before she acted, even when it was an adverse situation. Carol was also a walking schedule, always seeming to know what everyone in the family needed to do, where they needed to be and when they needed to be there. Carol was blessed with three children, one daughter, Kim, and two sons, Donald and Trevor. They were also blessed with three grandchildren, Kristopher, Hunter, Ellie.

      She was a hard worker who expected the same in return from her co-workers. She was skilled at working effectively in small groups and in one-on-one situations as well as handling solo assignments efficiently. Always able to attend to the task at hand, Carol was excellent at meeting deadlines. She was an efficient worker, one who paid careful attention to detail, allowing sufficient time to complete one task before moving on to the next. In her early years she was a teacher, later she worked in retail. She taught 1st grade at Queen Elizabeth School in Winnipeg, when she moved to Warner Lake, ON, she worked part time as a teacher. Once she moved to Ignace, ON, she taught at Ignace Public School. After that, she worked in several retail positions until she retired. Carol worked hard to be a team player, doing what was necessary in order to get the job done.

      Carol liked to experience things first-hand as well as learn about them. This trait carried over into her hobbies, where she was very methodical in how she organized her activities and categorized things. Since she enjoyed her private time, Carol always tried to allocate a specific time for working on her hobbies. Her favourite hobbies were travelling, reading, knitting, playing cards, baking, and going for car rides where her and Jim would enjoy picnicking and going for ice cream. Carol was content to enjoy her hobbies alone but was also willing to share her interests with others.

      Carol found pleasure in sports. Being a person who was comfortable making win/lose decisions throughout life, she could appreciate that athletes made those types of decisions in sports. She applauded those who won. In high school, Carol played volleyball. In her college years, Carol enjoyed bowling. Recreational sports included curling in Ignace, where she was a skip in the women's league, and third in the mixed league with Jim. She would watch her favourite sporting events whenever she got the opportunity. Tops on her list were curling, figure skating, hockey, and to watch her husband Jim play baseball in the Ignace league.

      Many organizations were grateful to have Carol as a member. Using straightforward methods to successfully complete the job, Carol was a great planner who was incredibly well organized. It seemed that she was able to schedule any event or activity with ease. She always seemed to know exactly what needed to be done. For 35 years Carol was a Lions member, starting as a Lioness.

      As a woman who always showed great commitment to the things she believed in, it’s little wonder that Carol was so active in her community. Carol was never afraid to roll up her sleeves and dig right in. Carol was a member of several community groups, primarily as a Lions Club member in Ignace, Prince Albert, and Sault Ste Marie. Also in Ignace, she was on the board of the local curling and figure skating club. She actively participate in the various groups within the Anglican Church community.

      Carol was a woman who was dedicated and devoted to her faith. She was a member the Anglican Church, a partitioner at St. Albans, Emmanuel, St. George's, and Emmaus. She was a sympathetic woman who valued her beliefs and was willing to work tirelessly for them.

      Carol sought out practical solutions, not individual recognition. She was always grounded and objective, feeling a strong sense of responsibility for taking care of what needed to be done. This selfless attitude earned Carol many accolades for her efforts and achievements. Some of her most prestigious awards included the Melvin Jones Award, the Judge Brian Stevenson Award, the Helen Keller Award, the No Child Without Award, the Lions Foundation of Canada Award, the Volunteer of the Year Award, and the International President's Award of Appreciation.

      Carol enjoyed traveling and taking vacations. Favourite vacations included various camping trips with family across Canada, Cuba, New York, Las Vegas, and going home to Saskatchewan to see her family.

      Carol was a lover of animals and cherished her pets. Two of Carol’s favourites were Tawny and Copper, both were dachshunds. Tawny was her treasured pet for 14 years. She also had another dog named Velvet, and cat named Skeziks.

      When Carol’s retirement finally arrived in 2012, she was very happy In retirement, she continued to participate in the Lions Club and Emmaus Anglican Church. Even in retirement, Carol continued to stay in touch with her old friends while making plenty of new acquaintances. She was active in her new community and felt fulfilled.

      Carol Ann Russell passed away on December 27, 2021 at ARCH Hospice in Sault Ste. Marie, ON. Carol fought an aggressive form of lung cancer. She is survived by her husband Jim; her children Kim (Dan) and Trevor; her grandchildren Kristopher, Hunter, and Ellie; her siblings Ken (Karel), Judy (Gary), Wendy (Bob), Harold (Jill), and brother in law Art (late Debbie); and many nieces and nephews. Services were held at Arthurs Funeral Home. Carol was laid to rest in Ignace Cemetery with her late son Donald.

      Commitment is a key word that can be used to describe the life of Carol Ann Russell. She was committed to living the life of a good woman who was both practical and trustworthy. She was committed to the traditional values that she upheld her entire life. She committed herself to being a hard worker who expected the same effort in return from those around her. Most of all, she was committed to those she knew and loved.

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Below is the Eulogy from Carol's funeral, presented by Rev. Cannon Bob Elkin:

When I was young, I worked part-time at the local A&P grocery stored. I worked there for years while I was going to school, and one day the manager told me this story.

He said “I used to work a big new A&P store that opened near Toronto, a massive store with a parking lot that went on forever. One day a woman came into the store and told me that she couldn’t find her car. She’d parked somewhere in the lot, didn’t pay attention to where and now couldn’t find the car even though she’d looked for over half an hour. I asked her what car she was driving, she didn’t know, all she knew was that it was a very common looking, regular, green car, but she knew it had a dent on the driver’s side door. She didn’t know the make, model or the year, nothing. Just that it looked average, was green, and had a dent. He and all the boys in the store went out to look for it and searched for probably half an hour before we found it. And she was right – it was an average looking, green sedan with a dent in the door. Although it may have been easier to find if she had mentioned that it also had a fourteen-foot red canoe strapped to the roof!”.

When I asked her about that, she said “We do a lot of camping, and that thing is always on the roof. It’s such a common sight that I don’t notice it anymore!”

One person’s regular and average can look very different and unusual when viewed by another. I would bet that if you asked Carol about her life, she would say: “Oh my life is just quiet and average like most people’s. I haven’t done anything spectacular. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

I was in the seminary with Carol’s brother Harold, and through him, I got to know Carol years ago, but when I was talking with the family as I prepared for today, I was amazed to learn of her life and the many things we had in common that I knew nothing about.

- We are both children of English war brides.

- She was born in 1946, I was born in 1946.

- She went to teacher’s college and taught public school for several years, I went to teacher’s college and taught public school for several years.

- We’ve both been married for over 50 years.

- We both joined things that interested and attracted us; she was in the Lions, liked curling, worked with kids in figure skating; I was in the Kinsmen, the Masons, and was a boy scout leader.

- She had a strong and long church connection, and I think I can say that I do as well.

And at a certain point as I prepared, I had to ask myself “How come I didn’t know all of this?”, and I realized that it was because when I was around Carol, I was the centre of attention, and we talked about me and that was true for others also, because she had such a powerful interest and desire to get to know them better. As a family friend said, “Carol put everyone else first!” and that made her one of those people that quietly attracts others because she was always so glad to see them and give of herself and share with them.

If I had to come up with one word to describe Carol Russell, I’d use the word love. She loved deeply. She loved her family, husband Jim, her children, grandchildren, her extended family. She loved her friends, many of them lifelong friends made through chance connections that most of us wouldn’t even remember today. She loved what she did, liked her work, her interests, knitting, card playing, baking, travel. She loved reading, an avid reader of romantic novels. And she loved helping others through her volunteer work, especially her work and involvement in Lions where she enthusiastically took on many roles to best serve that organization. Whenever she met someone in the hallways of her apartment, she’d stop and chat, and like that a new friendship was made.

She was not a spectator to life; she was an involved player and she played well and deeply affected the lives of many of the people she encountered. Knowing her brother Harold, I asked him to tell me about her and he wrote: “She was a mother to everyone who knew her, and she dedicated her life to her family. She would and did do anything she could to help those around her. Her life and beliefs are reflected in her family, and her commitment to the Lions group again reflects her desire to serve.”

Carol was not two dimensional, she was a very real person who enjoyed much I life but had also suffered loss and pain, but was not overwhelmed by it, and continued to give and radiate her love to all she encountered. I believe the world is a better place today because she was in it, and now she has died, but have no fear for Carol Russell.

They came to Jesus, and they said: “What must we do to have eternal life?”. “Love God and love others” Jesus replied and the gospel we heard today from Matthew tells us how we love God by loving and serving others. Carol did that and now she hears God say to her: “Well done you good and faithful servant. Come, enter into my rest”. May she rest in peace. I ask you now to sit silently while a hymn is played and think of Carol, of who she was and what she did, and what she meant to you and offer those thoughts to God in thanks for the gift of Carol’s life. I’ll close this portion of our service by reading Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken”.

The Road Not Taken

By: Robert Frost

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

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Below is an excerpt from the Lions tribute to Carol during her funeral service:

Since Lion Carol’s passing, I’ve been thinking about her quite a bit and I’ve concluded that she always had a genuine interest in how you were doing. Lion Carol spent many years on the Phone Committee so she not only reminded you about the upcoming meeting, but she took the time to find out how things were going in your life, be it your health, golf, travel or whatever. I can still hear laughing at my golf stories; especially when the Sandhill Cranes wouldn’t let me hit my shot.

We have a tradition in Lions which is to greet other Lions with a handshake. Well, I can tell you that handshakes didn’t cut it with Lion Carol; it was always a nice warm hug.

Lion Carol was a very devoted Lion, performing her duties until the very end. If you know Lion Carol at all, you would know that she would be very upset at leaving any duties undone. She was very conscientious to always complete her commitments.

Lion Carol joined the Ignace Lions Club in 1987. She transferred to the Sault Ste. Marie Lions Club in 2005. Lion Carol has been a Lion for 34 years.

During Lion Carol’s time with the Sault Ste. Marie Lions she served as:

- Club Membership Chair for four years

- Club Secretary for two years

- Club Vice President for three years

- Club President for one year

- She also served on many committees of the club such as: Lion’s Place, Rose Day, Draws, helping a family at Christmas, phone committee as well as many other duties that I can’t recall.

Lion Carol was presented with a Helen Keller award and a Life Membership from the Sault Ste. Marie Lions, as well as many other awards.

I can’t tell you about Lion Carol’s service in Prince Albert, but it must have been splendid. In 2002, they had International President Bill Biggs present her with a Melvin Jones Fellowship which is the highest award that a club can present to a Lion.

When she received the Melvin Jones Fellowship, it meant that Lion Carol helped people around the entire globe. “How is that possible?”, you say - Lion Carol only volunteered with Prince Albert and Sault Ste. Marie Lions clubs. When a club raises funds locally, they may take those funds and present a deserving Lion with a Melvin Jones Fellowship. The funds from the fellowship goes to Lions International to fund such things as Eyeglass Missions in other countries, eradicating river blindness in Central America, providing Cataract surgeries in India and proving disaster relief in Western Canada and anywhere else where disasters happen.

So while Lion Carol seemed to be a local Lion she was also a World Lion, helping people anywhere help was needed.

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RUSSELL, Carol Ann - Peacefully at ARCH Hospice on Monday, December 27, 2021 at the age of 75 with family at her side.

Beloved wife of Jim for 54 years. Loving mother of Kim Langevin (Dan), the late Donald, and Trevor. Proud Grandma of Kristopher, Hunter and Ellie. Dear sister of Ken Isbister (Karel), Judy Kripki (Gary), Wendy Chapman (Bob), the late Debbie Brassard (Art) and Harold Isbister (Jill). Predeceased by her parents Jemima and Donald Isbister, her mother and father-in-law Dorothy and Herbert Russell and brothers and sisters-in-law Ken Russell (Ethyl), Irene Schlechter (William), Bill Russell, Patricia Clarke and Gordon Russell. Carol will be fondly remembered by many nieces and nephews.

Carol was born in Barnet, England, the daughter of a war bride. She came to Canada when she was six months old and lived in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. She attended teacher's college in Winninpeg and met her husband Jim in Bissett, Manitoba in an igloo at a winter carnival. They married and moved to various mining communities in Northwestern Ontario. They settled in Ignace and raised their three children there. They retired to Sault Ste. Marie 17 years ago. Carol was a long standing member of Lions Clubs, holding many positions over the years in which she excelled. In 2002 she was honoured with a Melvin Jones Fellowship. She will be deeply missed by the many friends she made through Lions.

Friends are invited to visit with family at the Arthur Funeral Home - Barton & Kiteley Chapel on Sunday, January 2, 2022 from 1 pm until 2:45 pm. Covid restrictions apply - masks and social distancing are mandatory, capacity is limited. Memorial service to follow in the chapel at 3 pm with Rev. Canon Bob Elkin officiating (capacity 80 people). Friends are invited to view the service online on Sunday, January 2, 2022 at 3:00 pm. The service can be viewed anytime up to 90 days.

Special thank you the staff and volunteers at ARCH, Dr. Beuhner and Jeff Orr of Sault Ste. Marie EMS for their care and kindness.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.arthurfuneralhome.com for the Russell family.

Members of the Sault Ste. Marie Lions Club are requested to assemble at Arthur Funeral Home - Barton & Kiteley Chapel on Sunday, January 2, 2022 for a memorial service for the late Lion Carol Russell at 3 pm.

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RUSSELL, Carol Ann - Peacefully at ARCH Hospice on Monday, December 27, 2021 at the age of 75 with family at her side.

Beloved wife of Jim for 54 years. Loving mother of Kim Langevin (Dan), the late Donald, and Trevor. Proud Grandma of Kristopher, Hunter and Ellie. Dear sister of Ken Isbister (Karel), Judy Kripki (Gary), Wendy Chapman (Bob), the late Debbie Brassard (Art) and Harold Isbister (Jill). Predeceased by her parents Jemima and Donald Isbister, her mother and father-in-law Dorothy and Herbert Russell and brothers and sisters-in-law Ken Russell (Ethyl), Irene Schlechter (William), Bill Russell, Patricia Clarke and Gordon Russell. Carol will be fondly remembered by many nieces and nephews.

Carol was born in Barnet, England, the daughter of a war bride. She came to Canada when she was six months old and lived in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. She attended teacher's college in Winninpeg and met her husband Jim in Bissett, Manitoba in an igloo at a winter carnival. They married and moved to various mining communities in Northwestern Ontario. They settled in Ignace and raised their three children there. They retired to Sault Ste. Marie 17 years ago. Carol was a long standing member of Lions Clubs, holding many positions over the years in which she excelled. In 2002 she was honoured with a Melvin Jones Fellowship. She will be deeply missed by the many friends she made through Lions.

Friends are invited to visit with family at the Arthur Funeral Home - Barton & Kiteley Chapel on Sunday, January 2, 2022 from 1 pm until 2:45 pm. Covid restrictions apply - masks and social distancing are mandatory, capacity is limited. Memorial service to follow in the chapel at 3 pm with Rev. Canon Bob Elkin officiating (capacity 80 people). Friends are invited to view the service online on Sunday, January 2, 2022 at 3:00 pm. The service can be viewed anytime up to 90 days. Go to www.funeraweb.tv and select Carol’s name to view the service. Memorial contributions by cheque to the Sault Ste. Marie Lions Club would be greatly appreciated. Interment and a celebration of life will be held in Ignace at a later date.

Special thank you the staff and volunteers at ARCH, Dr. Beuhner and Jeff Orr of Sault Ste. Marie EMS for their care and kindness.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.arthurfuneralhome.com for the Russell family.

Members of the Sault Ste. Marie Lions Club are requested to assemble at Arthur Funeral Home - Barton & Kiteley Chapel on Sunday, January 2, 2022 for a memorial service for the late Lion Carol Russell at 3 pm.