Esther Lou (Linthicum) Russell February 11, 1946 ~ August 24, 2020 (age 74)

Obituary

Funeral services for Esther L. Russell, 74, of Albuquerque, will be held at 10:00 AM, Thurs., Aug. 27, 2020 at Central Christian Church in Portales with Franklin Smith officiating.  Burial will follow in the Portales Cemetery with Greg Russell, Michael Russell, Brian Doyal, Brandon Linthicum, Ryan Linthicum and J. C. Linthicum serving as pallbearers.  A memorial service will be held at 10:00 AM, Fri., Sept. 4, 2020 at Eastern Hills Baptist Church in Albuquerque.

Heaven has gained one powerful Angel.  Esther Lou Russell, age 74, passed away peacefully Friday, August 21, 2020 in her home in Albuquerque.  She was born in Santa Fe, NM on February 11, 1946.  She married the love of her life Lyle D. Russell on September 22, 1967 in Portales, NM where they began their life together that would take them to Albuquerque and back to Portales where they started their family with their first son Gregory Scott.  After homes in Massachusetts and Hawaii (while Lyle was in the military), they again settled back in Albuquerque in 1973 and the addition to their family with son Michael Brent.

Esther was a true blessing to her family and anyone who was lucky enough to know her.  She was the most caring person in the world, a true caregiver putting everyone’s needs before her own.  Caring, giving, loving, generous, compassionate, selfless, devoted, strong, thoughtful, trusting, beautiful inside and out, and creative/talented are other descriptive qualities.

When Esther’s Mother and Father suffered medical and life-ending medical issues, she was always there as a caretaker. She also jumped in and helped as a caretaker to Lyle’s Mother and Uncle when they were having their life-ending medical issues.  In 2002, Esther took her sister (Sherie Ann who had Down Syndrome) into their home when her Mother could no longer care for her.  She became Sherie’s primary caretaker for thirteen years until Sherie passed away in 2015.

Family was always first with Esther.  Her two sons, Gregory and Michael, were her pride and joy.  She was their number one supporter throughout their lives.  Esther loved her three Grandchildren (Faith, Kade, and Kyla) with a love that cannot be put into words and she was happiest when they were around her.  She could hardly wait for every Thanksgiving weekend for Faith and Kade to arrive and enjoy Thanksgiving and early Christmas shopping.

Esther was always heavily involved in her son’s public school activities (both in the class room and fund raising activities).  And as they got older and involved in sports, she became even more involved.  During their years at Eldorado High School, she became a strong member of the Football and Baseball booster clubs and was always the leader in organizing fund raising and season ending banquets for those teams.  Her fund raising activities also spilled over to the cheerleading and band activities as well.

For fifteen years, Esther became heavily involved in the boys Little League activities at Roadrunner.  Throughout those years she was a strong member of the Roadrunner Board and Roadrunner Auxiliary where she served as president or Secretary/Treasurer several times.  Again was a leader in fund raising and concession activities for the League.  She was one of the Champions on the board that got a girls softball program started at Roadrunner.

In the mid 80’s, Esther  began her working career in the mortgage lending business and worked for several different companies until her retirement in 2002 when she began a primary caretaker for her sister Sherie Ann.

After the boys left the nest, Esther began working more and more on the hobbies she enjoyed the most.  And that was designing and making various craft and flower pieces.  She had an amazing talent and creativeness and loved to be in craft and flower shows throughout the year.  She won many ribbons over the years with some of her crafts and flower pieces at the State Fair and other shows.  She also enjoyed going to the various craft and flower shows just to view other individual’s work.

Esther was a member of the High Desert Design Club and Uptown Garden Club and became very active in various club activities and projects.  She always looked forward to the monthly meetings and going to State and District Club meetings as well.  One of her favorite Garden Club projects was being co-chair of the Share the Beauty Day.  This involved collecting empty food cans and turning/decorating the cans into vase like containers for flowers that they would then distribute to the various nursing homes around Albuquerque.  She took great pride and joy in this activity every year.  Another project that Esther enjoyed was making and providing the bows for the Holiday Fair Center pieces.

One of Esther’s other hobbies was collecting milk glass of which she has a huge collection.  She always enjoyed visiting/shopping the various antique shops, especially in Ruidoso, Cloudcroft and Jenks, OK.  She also loved going to the cabin in Ruidoso during the spring, summer and fall and shopping the various shops up and down Sudderth Drive.

Esther is survived by her husband Lyle D. Russell of the home; two sons Gregory (Sharon) of Albuquerque and Michael (Tammy) of Jenks, Oklahoma; three Grandchildren Faith, Kade and Kyla; one brother Troies Dean (Deanna) Linthicum of Albuquerque, one sister Mary Ellen (Larry) Doyal of Portales; nieces Melissa, Michelle and Jana: nephews Brian, Brandon, Ryan, J. C., and David.She was preceded in death by her parents Troies and Esther Linthicum, a brother Joseph and a sister Sherie Ann.