Murlene Russell Nethery

Funeral services for Murlene Russell Nethery, will be held 10:00AM, Friday, May 30, 2025, at Riser Funeral Home in Olla, Louisiana, with interment following in Old Bethel Cemetery. Pastor Bradley Jones will be officiating. Visitation will be held Thursday, May 29, 2025, at Riser Funeral Home in Olla from 5:00 PM until 8:00 PM

Sunday, May 25, 2025, Lillie Murlene (Emmy) Nethery died peacefully at home in Denham Springs, LA.

Murlene was born January 6,1938, in Urania, Louisiana to Julian Owen Russell and Clara Magnolia Enterkin Russell. We all knew she was beautiful, but most didn’t realize she lived with uncertainty about it. She was always ready for a hug and a good laugh. Murlene also lived with Faith in God, and made sure her children knew the main message from Jesus: Every person and creature deserves our love, caring and respect. She allowed them to run free and learn from it. She was just the right amount of firm rules versus freedom. She raised her children up believing they could do anything they put their minds to do, if they worked hard and made smart choices. We loved her for all these reasons and more. She was always having fun. Many likely remember her running through the halls at Columbia Elementary school, dressed in a scary witch costume for Halloween. She was quite the prankster. You might have gotten baking powder instead of coffee creamer and watch your cup foam up over the sides, or a round, wooden Christmas ball covered in glaze on your slice of cherry cheesecake.

She had many jobs throughout her life. No job was too large or too small for her…from taking care of her 4 children, Merry, Greg, Mike and Jon, to working on an inland barge drilling rig. However, her biggest joy was taking care of young children.

She was restless and couldn’t seem to stay in one place for long. She enjoyed adventures. She was an excellent self-taught artist, pianist and loved antiques and decorating. She loved babies and especially cherished her grandchildren and great grandchildren. She made the best fried chicken, pies and dressing. We all canned veggies with her and family, shelled peas and butter beans together. She taught us not to waste food and be thankful for it in prayer. She instilled the love of history and old homes in her children. We would take back roads to see old homes, learn who lived there and watch them slowly turn to ruins over time. She wanted to restore them all. We all stop to read the brown signs on the side of the road, much to the chagrin of our passengers. We all love to ramble down the back roads of our beautiful countryside and would rather take the long way home. We know she relished her journey, even this last one and are thankful it was mostly without pain. She is with our Lord, wanting for nothing.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Virginia Lea Posey (sister) and Gregory Glen Nethery (son).

She is survived by her siblings: Julius Russell and his wife, Doris Smith Russell, and Anita Gilbert and her husband, Dan Gilbert; her children: Merry Ellen Nethery, Magnolia, Mississippi, Michael Owen Nethery and his wife, Donna Milton Nethery, of Denham Springs, LA,  and Jonathan Wade Nethery and his wife, Donna Hibbard Nethery, of Denham Springs, LA; grandchildren: Tiffany Nethery Ross (Jeremy Ross) Denham Springs, LA, ,Haley Nethery Aldridge (David Aldridge), Gainesville, GA, Michael Nethery, Denham Springs, LA, Jonathan Nethery (Brenda Nethery), Houston, TX, Hunter Nethery (Kacie Nethery) Denham Springs, LA, Zachary Thomas Nethery, Baton Rouge, LA, and Dawson Nethery, Denham Springs, LA; great-grandchildren: Gavin Ross, Mason Ross, Ann Morgan Aldridge, Palmer Aldridge, Tripp Aldridge, Ariella Nethery, Elena Nethery, Lucas Nethery, Corinne Nethery, and Christian Nethery.

Pallbearers will be Zach Nethery, Michael Nethery, Jeremy Ross, Gavin Ross, Mason Ross, Jonathan Nethery Jr, Hunter Nethery, and Dawson Nethery. Honorary pallbearers are Christian Nethery, Tripp Aldridge, and Lucas Nethery.

And then the day came,

When the risk to remain tight

In a bud

Was more painful than the risk it took

To blossom.