IN MEMORIAM: Susan Russell, Seabury Western ‘98
The Rev. Susan Hayden Russell, Seabury Western Class of 1998, died Thursday, December 26, 2024, surrounded by her family at her home in Salem, Massachusetts, aged 81. Born in Boston on November 30, 1943, she was the daughter of the late Jesse Lloyd Hayden and Alice (Harvey) Woodason. She was the beloved wife of John (Jack) Russell.
Susan grew up in Foxborough, Massachusetts and her life embraced three careers: pianist and music teacher, college administrator, and parish priest. Following her graduation from the Northfield Mount Hermon School in 1961, she earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music in 1965. As part of her undergraduate studies, she spent her junior year in Austria, studying at the Mozarteum Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in Salzburg with a focus on Orff Schulwerk, a developmental approach to teaching music to children featuring vocal and instrumental music, drama, and speech. After graduating with honors from Oberlin, Susan taught music in the elementary schools of Darien, Connecticut, Elk Grove Village, Illinois, and Montpelier, Vermont. In 1983 she was appointed Associate Director of Admissions at The College of Wooster, a post she held for 12 years. Following a period of discernment, Susan enrolled at Seabury-Western where she earned a Master of Divinity degree in 1998 and was subsequently ordained a priest in The Episcopal Church. She served as Associate Rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Medina, Ohio, and Rector of All Saints' Episcopal Church in Parma, Ohio. In 2008, following Jack's retirement from The College of Wooster, they moved to Massachusetts to be geographically closer to their sons and their families. Susan continued her ministry at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Marblehead, All Saints' Episcopal Church in West Newbury and, since 2013, she has served as Associate Rector for Pastoral Care at Christ Church of Hamilton and Wenham.
In addition to her husband, Susan is survived by her brother, Harvey Hayden, of Bluffton, South Carolina, and her two sons, David Russell of Hyde Park, Massachusetts, and Timothy Russell of Marion, Massachusetts, their spouses, Tanya and Elizabeth, and beloved grandchildren, Millie, Teo, James, and Ada.
The service celebrating Susan's life will occur at Christ Church of Hamilton & Wenham, 149 Asbury Street, South Hamilton, on Saturday, February 22, 2025, at 4:00 pm. All are invited to attend.
From an obituary published by Legacy on Dec. 31, 2024.
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/susan-russell-obituary?id=57139781