Bessie Mae Russell

Mrs. Bessie Mae Russell, 78, died Saturday, November 23, 2024, at her home in Abbeville, Mississippi. The funeral will be Monday, November 25, 2024, at 2:00 P.M. in the Chapel of Waller Funeral Home with Bro. Gerald Shook officiating. Visitation will be held prior to the service beginning at 12:00 noon. Burial will follow the service in Vaughn Cemetery.

Bessie was born on October 10, 1946, to the late Toxie Bennett and Ed Odum. In January, she would’ve celebrated 44 years of marriage to her beloved husband, John. Bessie took great pride in her role as a homemaker and stay at home mom. The doors to her home were always open to her children and grandchildren, and overflowed with warmth and love. Bessie enjoyed any outdoor activity, especially traveling with her husband in their camper, whether they went just down the road to Sardis or ventured out to Mountain View, Arkansas. She loved to fish, cooking up whatever was caught for dinner. Though she loved to cook, she took any opportunity to go out to eat. Bessie’s home and garden were filled with her homegrown flowers and each year she loved to welcome the hummingbirds into her yard. She held a special place in her heart for her puppy, Precious. Bessie was a wonderful and loving wife, mother, and grandmother, who was happiest when her whole family was all together. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her sisters, Cissy Wait, Martha Shoffner, and Joyce Buchanan; brothers, Bobby Odum and James Odum; and her grandson, Colt Dooley.

Bessie is survived by her husband, John Russell of Abbeville, MS; daughters, Lisa Vaughn and her husband, Eddie, and Cindy Pruitt, both of Oxford, MS; son, Joey Dooley and his wife, Alicia, of Abbeville, MS; sister, Reba Russell and her husband, Paul, of Abbeville, MS; brother, Ed Odum and his wife, Mary, of Abbeville, MS; five grandchildren, Candi Harland, Naden Vaughn, Ash Dooley, Niki Pruitt, and MacKenzie Pruitt; as well as eight great-grandchildren.

Expressions of sympathy or memorial contributions in Bessie’s memory may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, Tennessee 38105, or online at www.stjude.org, or to the West Cancer Foundation, Post Office Box 382638, Germantown, Tennessee 38183 or online at https://westcancerfoundation.org/support/.