Mrs. Jo Ann Miller Russell

July 9, 1943 - December 8, 2018

Jo Ann Russell, a resident of the Hamlet of Pine Bush, passed away suddenly on Saturday, December 8, 2018. She was born in her beloved Vanlue, Ohio on July 9, 1943. Having grown up on the family farm she graduated from the small rural Vanlue High School in northwest Ohio (which she pronounced OHIa). She went on to attend Miami University where, as a trailblazer for women's' basketball, she played for 4 years, graduating in 1965. She was soon after offered a teaching/coaching position with the Pine Bush school system where she once again blazed a new path to travel out of state for her new job. After many successful years there as a Health and Physical Education teacher (including bringing her girls basketball team to three straight championships) she earned her Masters in Guidance & Counseling from Bowling Green State University, became a guidance counselor, eventually moving on to OCCC where she helped and guided transfer students. All the while she ran a thriving Shaklee Health business and helped her husband Joe in the family business, Billings Memorials. She is a two time cancer survivor who always beat the odds through prayer, hope and tenacious perseverance. She taught her children and reminded them constantly, to Never Give Up! She was a proud farm girl and Buckeye through and through. To those of her family living in Ohio she was always Jo or Little Jo. Not ever JoAnn. Although graduating from Miami University she, like the rest of us, was an avid Ohio State fan. Wherever she was she would try to find the game on TV, often enlisting anyone within earshot to cheer for our Buckeyes. She split her baseball allegiance to the Indians and Yankees (but we all know she was foremost an Indians fan). She never knew a stranger and would listen to anyone that wanted - or needed - to talk, holding their confidence as closely as anyone ever could. She truly enjoyed hearing about others' lives and getting to know new people. She loved entertaining company and always welcomed any and everyone into “the Cabin” at the Iroquois Hunting and Fishing Club or when she vacationed in TX. Survivors include her husband, Joe of 52 years; her sons, Jack (Rhiannon), Jerred and his wife, Colleen; her loving and certainly beloved sisters, Dreah and her husband, Larry of Tiffin, OH, Myra and her spouse, Mylayne of Columbus, OH; her five grandchildren who she adored and always rooted for, Dylan, Austin, Brooke, Angus, Eagan; and many nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her parents, Helen and Jack Miller (otherwise known as “G & G”) and her brother, Roger. She will forever be missed as a great wife, a loving mom and grandmother, sister, athlete, coach, woman of strength and a true force of nature. We love you Mom! A memorial service in her honor will be held at New Prospect Church at 11 a.m. on Friday, December 14, 2018. Followed by a burial at New Prospect Cemetery. In lieu of flowers please make memorial donations to www.gofundme.com/mance or the Pine Bush Food Pantry located at the Pine Bush Elementary School. Arrangements are under the direction of Dewitt Martinez Funeral and Cremation Services, 64 Center Street, Pine Bush, NY 12566 845-744-2787. Messages of condolence can be left for the family at www.dewittfh.com