Mary Elizabeth DuPuis Russell, 82, who with her husband was instrumental in the founding of Baptist College of Charleston (now Charleston Southern University), died Feb. 27, in Jackson, Miss.
The former South Carolinian moved with her son-in-law and daughter, Lee and Rhoda Royce, to Clinton, Miss., in 2002, when Lee Royce, former president of Anderson University, was named president of Mississippi College.
A native of Charleston, Russell was a devoted pastor’s wife, a loving and self-sacrificing mother, and a frequent writer for Southern Baptist periodicals. She was a member of First Baptist Church, Clinton, Miss.
She grew up in Citadel Square Baptist Church, Charleston. She graduated from Mars Hill College and the College of Charleston before attending the W.O. Carver Training School in Louisville, Ky. After her marriage to Chester Russell, she served as administrative assistant to the president of Southern Baptist Seminary while her husband earned his Th.D. in New Testament. For 16 years, she served as pastor’s wife of Remount Baptist Church, Charleston.
After the family’s move to Nashville, Tenn., Russell began a long-term ministry as a Southern Baptist curriculum writer and conference leader. Ten years ago, she returned for seven years to South Carolina while her son-in-law served as president of Anderson.
She is survived by her daughter and two grandchildren. She was predeceased by her husband and by a son, Phillip.