Rites Held Today For Ralph Russell
Father of Mrs. O. K. Burbridge Dies Here at Her Home Wednesday

Funeral services were held at 10 o'clock this morning at Pattonsburg, Mo., for Ralph Eugene Russell, 87, who died Wednesday [July 30, 1947] at the home of his daughter, Mrs. O. K. [Gladys Maurine] Burbridge, 311 North Sixth Street, after an illness of about two months.
Ralph Eugene Russell, son of Nathaniel Jefferson and Sara Millikin Russell, was born March 16, 1860 at Ottowa, Ill.
On April 21, 1882 he was married to Mamie Hoag[in Blanchard, Page County Iowa], who died April 16, 1907. To this union six children were born, one dying in infancy. Those remaining are Mrs. Nelle Corbett, Corvallis, Ore. Mrs. Addie Summers, Coffey, Mo.; Eugene L. Russell, LaPlata, Mo.; Mrs. O. K. Burbridge, Louisiana, Mo.; and Mrs. Iola Terry, Pattonsburg, Mo.
On Dec. 16, 1915, he was married to Ida Florence Collison, who preceded him in death five years ago. Since that time he has made his home with his daughter, Mrs. Burbridge.
Left to mourn his passing are besides his children, 20 grandchildren; 19 great grandchildren; one brother, Seth Russell, Blanchard, Ia.; one sister, Mrs. Ira Isaacs, 11038 Bothell Way, Seattle, Wash.; three stepchildren, Mrs. Ethel Teel of CoffeyMo.; Mrs. Stella Day, Kansas City, Mo.; and Mrs. Osta Handke, Woodbine, Ia.; also a host of other relatives and friends.
Mr. Russell was one of the early pioneers, having cleared virgin lands in Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, and Missouri. He traveled west in a covered wagon to live in sod houses in the days when hostile Indians still roamed the plains.
He was baptized and united with the Christian Church early in life.