Grace Jarrell Williams Russell was born in Memphis, Tennessee, July 4, 1924. Her parents were Lill Senter Jarrell and Aubrey Hamilton Williams of Humboldt, Tennessee. Grace is the descendant of pre-Revolutionary War settlers from the clan McNeal on the Isle of Bara in Scotland. They arrived in North Carolina, fleeing religious and political persecution and later, crossed over through the Smoky Mountains at Newfound Gap to settle in Tennessee in a settlement party led by Daniel Boone.
Grace has a number of U. S. Presidents in her ancestry, along with Alexander Hamilton – one of our nation’s Founding Fathers and delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and notable poets Geoffrey Chaucer of 14th Century England, 18th century English poet Willam Wordsworth, and American writer Mark Twain. Grace grew up in Humboldt, Tennessee, when it was a thriving idyllic, small southern town of a close knit community where she was in some way kin to half the town. Her family were civic leaders in the community. Her grandfather and uncles served from time to time as Mayors there and owned the B. C.Jarrell Bushel and Basket Company, the only industry in town that provided jobs for many of the citizens of Humboldt. Her father was the founder of Humboldt’s Strawberry Festival.
Grace attended Lambuth Methodist College in Jackson, Tennessee, where she met her husband Henry Ewell (Hank) Russell. They went on to attend Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas and were married in Humboldt, Tennessee, April 7, 1945. Grace always wanted to be a missionary to China. She did not fulfill that mission, but her son Rusty would one day fulfill her dream. Rusty has been a missionary to Asia and China for the last 36 years. Grace and Hank have 5 children, 17 grandchildren, and 21 great-grandchildren and 1 on the way. Among Hank and Grace’s direct descendants – children and grandchildren – there are: 4 Ministers, 3 Medical Doctors, 3 Teachers, 1 Engineer, 1 MBA Accountant and Minister of Music, 4 Entrepreneurs, 1 Physicist/software developer, 1 Author, 1 Producer and documentary film artist, 1 Artist, 1 Designer, 1 Computer Graphics Artist/Illustrator and writer of Children’s books.
Alongside her husband Dr. Russell, Grace served the following Methodist Congregations over their years of ministry together from 1942 -1991: Grace Methodist Church in Dallas, Nevada, Pleasant Valley, Lavon, and Rowlett, Texas. In the Memphis Conference: Wickliffe and Reidland, Kentucky and Ellendale, Tennessee. Hank and Grace founded St. Stephen’s Methodist Church in Memphis. They served Fulton, Kentucky, and Dyersburg, Tennessee. In 1964, Hank was one of 12 American ministers chosen to be a Delegate to the World Methodist Conference Ministerial Exchange, so Hank and Grace moved to England for the summer and took their 5 children by boat across the Atlantic to exchange pulpits with Rev. Reginald Mallett at the Albert Hall in Manchester, England. Following that ministry, Hank and Grace took the whole family on a camping trip in eleven countries in Europe. They would later take many of their parishioners to Israel and Europe for summer retreats. Grace served alongside Hank in the Brownsville and Dyersburg Districts where Hank was appointed as District Superintendent. With Grace by his side, Hank pastored Broadway United Methodist in Paducah, St. Luke’s United Methodist, Memphis, Tennessee, and First United Methodist Church in Paris, Tennessee. In 1974, Hank and Grace attended the Reopening of City Road Church in London where Hank was a delegate. In 1978, they attended The Christian Heritage in Government Conference in London, England, where Hank was a Chair Delegate. In 1980, they attended the World Methodist Conference in Honolulu where Hank was a Delegate. When The Soviet Union collapsed, they were invited to by Christian Youth International, a ministry of their daughter Rose and her husband Bob to help train young Russians to be ministers. Out of one church they ministered to there, over 500 churches have been started. They also went with Bob and Rose and Maranatha Campus Ministries to Australia, Indonesia, China and the Philippines. Out of the ministry in the Philippines over 1,000 churches have been started. Hank and Grace were Honorary Kentucky Colonels, Duke and Duchess of Paducah, and a Paducah Ambassadors.
Funeral services are scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday, June 8, 2018, at Broadway United Methodist Church, Paducah, Kentucky. Rev. Paul Mulligan will preside. Service will be live streamed on <https://livestream.com/bumcmedia> The service will be available to watch online at any time after that on Broadway United Methodist Church’s website. Visitation will be held at Broadway Methodist church, beginning at 10 a.m. Friday. Burial will take place at 4 p.m. Friday afternoon, June 8, at Rose Hill Cemetery in Humboldt, Tennessee at the Jarrell family plot.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Memory of Grace Russell to Broadway United Methodist Church Bell Tower Restoration. Broadway is on the National Historic Register and many great revivals have taken place here. Call Broadway United Methodist Church office (270) 443-2401, or send donations to Broadway United Methodist Church, 701 Broadway St., Paducah, Kentucky 42001.
Funeral arrangements are being handled by Milner & Orr Funeral Home and Cremation Services of Paducah.
