Natalie Russell

Memorial services will be at 11:00 A.M. on Thursday, September 26, 2013 at Lake Tanglewood Community Church with Dr. Roger Hubbard, pastor, and Dr. Paul Matney, President, Amarillo College, officiating. Graveside services will be at 9:30 A.M. on Thursday at Dreamland Cemetery in Canyon. Dr. Natalie Russell was born on December 7, 1921 in Canyon to Charles and Avis Baird Flesher. She received her Bachelor of Arts in 1942 and her Master of Arts in 1946, both from West Texas State Teachers College (WTAMU). Dr. Russell married Oliver Lee Russell on September 9, 1944. She joined the Amarillo College faculty in 1947 as a physical education instructor. In addition to teaching P.E. classes, she also sponsored numerous clubs, from the drill team to the cheerleading squad at AC. She even sponsored a men's fraternity, the Sixth Column, composed of WWII veterans. She received her Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Oklahoma in 1972. She eventually became chair of the women's physical education department and later professor emeritus in 1997. She retired from Amarillo College in 1982, where the Russell Hall at AC's Washington Street campus is named for her. She was preceded in death by her sister, Billie Flesher, in 2004. Survivors include her husband of 69 years, Oliver Lee Russell, of Lake Tanglewood; and her cousin, Jane Juett, of Amarillo. The family suggests memorials be to the Amarillo College Foundation in care of Dr. Natalie Russell, PO Box 447, Amarillo, TX 79178.