Catherine Allen Russell

Catherine Russell was born on March 4th, 1938, in Oxford, North Carolina. On Thursday, June 19, 2025 (“Juneteenth”) she passed away peacefully at Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. She was 87 years old. 

Catherine Russell of Upper Marlboro, MD was loved by anyone who had the pleasure of knowing her. She was a very active member of St. Paul’s Moravian Church since 1974 and served the Lord by actively volunteering in a variety of church activities, and helping her community in times of hardship and need. 

Catherine was the youngest of her four siblings. She was raised Baptist in the small town of Oxford, North Carolina in a home with no indoor plumbing on an unpaved road. She relocated to the state of Kansas for high school living with her brother, “June,” to pursue a better education. From there, Catherine earned acceptance to North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NC A&T). She graduated, and became a lifelong proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. Catherine took pride in the fact that she raised the grade point average of her Chapter. Shortly after she graduated from NC A&T and became a teacher, Catherine met the love of her life, best friend, and life partner Horace Russell. She married him in 1961. She followed her husband in his military roles across the country as a devoted and supportive military wife. While her husband pursued his PhD, Catherine graduated with her Master’s Degree from Purdue University in 1971. Catherine was a multi-faceted, resourceful and brilliant woman. She had a sharp and quick-witted sense of humor. Catherine also embodied and emphasized the importance of education not only as a talented educator to her students, but also as a wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and daughter. Catherine was also the Queen of the Deal - an expert shopper and homemaker. She was proud to be Black/African-American, and taught the same to her children and grandchildren. She taught many how to read, be a good person, and make sense of the world around them in a way that was logical, kind, just, and moral. She praised and gave gratitude to the Lord every Sunday, and inculcated her family to maintain their faith in the Lord at all times. She loved spending time with her husband and her family. She had a special way of making anyone feel warm, comfortable, and welcome in her home. She was a thoughtful woman, with a giving and kind soul. Catherine Russell was an incredible wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and daughter. Her father, Curtis Allen, was a farmer and her mother, Alice Webb, was a homemaker. She joins her husband of 58 years Horace and siblings in heaven, Bill, James (“June”), Martha, and Mary (“May”). 

She is survived by her son, Horace L. Russell Jr. (“Tank”); daughter in-law Monique Rush (“Mo”); daughter, Patricia Russell Brown (“Patty”); son in-law Andrew Brown (“Andy”), four grandchildren, Allison Brown (“Allie”), Caitlin Brown (“Katie”), Horace L. Russell III (“Chris”), and Joshua Brown (“Josh”), as well as numerous cousins, nieces and nephews. She is and will be very missed by her community here on Earth. We love and miss you Mama!!!

The family will receive friends on Saturday, July 12, 2025 from 10:00am to 11:00am at St. Paul's Moravian Church, 8505 Heathermore Blvd., Upper Marlboro, Maryland 20772.  Services will follow at 12:00pm.  Interment will be at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Ms. Catherine Russell's honor, to any organization of your choice.