ISABEL POTTER

POTTER--Isabel.

Isabel Doolittle Russell Potter died on October 18, 2017. She was a legend. Isabel was born July 11, 1923 in New York City to Archibald Douglas Russell and Mariette Doolittle. She attended Barnard College, leaving early to serve as a volunteer nurse during WWll. After three dates with Bob Potter, she accepted his proposal of marriage and, while he was on leave from the Navy, they were married on November 28, 1944 at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, he in his Navy uniform, she in a navy blue suit. During their engagement, Isabel met a fortune teller who predicted that all the ships in Bob's fleet would be sunk except his. The fortune teller called it correctly. After the War, Isabel and Bob moved to Charlottesville, VA where they had their first child while Bob attended law school, then on to NYC (with a brief stint in Washington, DC) where they lived most of their lives and raised their five children. She travelled the world with her husband who died too young at 68. Isabel served on the board of directors of the Henry Street Settlement where she devoted herself to their mission for over 60 years. The Settlement joins her family in mourning her loss and celebrating her life. She will be best remembered for her enormous love, humor and devotion to her husband, five children, 14 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, the rest of her family, and many, many friends. Isabel was loved and admired for her capacity to befriend all sorts with the same disarming friendliness and absolutely no filter. To her, no one was a stranger and no one could have possibly NOT wanted to hear about her grandchildren, her political views, the work of the Henry Street Settlement, her children's careers and the joys of walking everywhere in NYC. Isabel is survived by her sister Louise Russell Irving and her brother Archibald Douglas Russell, her daughters Louise Ross, Isabel Aldrich, Lorna Walker, Linda Potter, her son Bob Potter, in-laws Dick Aldrich, Ned Walker, Tim Shriver and Anne Patterson and many grands and great-grands. She was predeceased by her husband and the love of her life, Bob Potter, and her son-in-law Robin Ross. The memorial service will take place Saturday, October 21, 2017, 4pm at St. George's Episcopal Church at 7 Rutherford Place, New York, NY 10003 on Stuyvesant Square, NYC. (Phone: 646-723-4178). In lieu of flowers, please send a contribution to Henry Street Settlement at 265 Henry Street, New York, NY 10002.