Anita (Laake) Russ, 92, of Evansville, died Friday, November 24, 2017 at River Pointe Health Campus in Evansville, Indiana. She had previously been living at Atria Senior Living in Newburgh for the previous 3 years.
She was born October 8, 1925 in Ferdinand to Joseph and Susan (Olinger) Laake. She married Eugene (Jim) Russ on October 2, 1948 in St. Ferdinand Church in Ferdinand.
Anita was a 1941 graduate of the Academy Immaculate Conception. After her graduation she worked at the convent in the business office. During WWII she worked at the Office of Price Administration (OPA) in Jasper. Following the war, she worked at Wesselman’s Grocery Store on Lincoln Ave in Evansville for about two years. She assisted her husband Jim at United Wood Products with working on time sheets and helping with special projects. She worked at St. Meinrad Grade School for several years helping with the school lunch bookkeeping.
Anita was a member of the St. Anne’s Sodality at St. Ferdinand Church. For many years she volunteered at Scenic Hills Nursing Home and was a Eucharistic minister for St. Ferdinand Parish shut ins. She did assist with helping to type manuscripts for two books that were written by sisters from Monastery Immaculate Conception: The Castle on the Hill written by Sr. M. Frederica Dudine, O.S.B. and God Calls the Walsh Family compiled by Sr. M. Benedicta Clauss, O.S.B.
Anita loved to spend time with her family especially her two granddaughters who would often visit her in Ferdinand and later while she lived in Evansville for the last 3 years of her life. She enjoyed playing cards, cooking, reading, gardening, and travelling with her family.
Anita is survived by her two sons, Jeff of Bloomington and Eric of Evansville along with his wife Margaret and their two daughters, Julia Anita and Mary Catherine. She is also survived by her siblings, Bernice Weyer and John (Nancy) Laake of Ferdinand, Dolores Schwinghamer of St. Henry, Allen (Ann) Laake of Jasper and Joan Persohn of Noblesville, IN. Anita was preceded in death by her parents, Joseph and Susan Laake, her husband Eugene Russ, and by her two sisters, Ardella Weyer of Ferdinand and Mary Lee Lueken of Jasper.
Services for Anita will be held at St. Ferdinand Church in Ferdinand at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, November 29, 2017. Visitation will be at Becher Funeral Home in Ferdinand on Tuesday, November 28, 2017 from 2:00 until 8:00 p.m and again on Wednesday morning from 7-9:30 AM at the funeral home.
Memorial donations may be made to the Parish Landscaping Flower Fund. Anita loved to tend to her flowers at home and had assisted her sister Bernice to help plant flowers around the St. Ferdinand Church.
