Barbara Cecil Russ

Barbara Cecil Russ, 80, of Owensboro, passed away on Wednesday, December 29, 2021 at Deaconess Gateway in Newburgh, Indiana. She was born on February 24, 1941 in Owensboro to the late Robert E. (R.E.) Cecil and Viola Mae Gaddis Cecil. She grew up on the Veatch Road with Wayne Russ also living across the road from her. Little did anyone know that they would eventually get married to each other. She started the vegetable stand business at R.E. Cecil Garden on Veatch Road that was the transition from truck farming. Barbara worked for Messenger-Inquirer as a proof reader and became a Kentucky Colonel in November of 1985. She was a Master Gardener and was on the Owensboro Herb Society Board, where she was president for various years and oversaw the sale of herb plants for them. She helped start the Owensboro Herb Society and designed the Owensboro Herb Society’s garden, which is located on 2nd Street across from the courthouse. Wayne of course was there, as her builder and helper, as he always has been there for her.

Barbara was one of the founding members, and was instrumental in the conception and design of the Western Kentucky Botanical Garden. She volunteered at the Western Kentucky Botantical Garden from 1993-2021 for a total of 28 years. She was on the design committee and board there for years, and received a volunteer plaque for 20 years of volunteer work in 2013.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by a great-grandchild, Evalyn Grace Russ.

Barbara is survived by her husband of 57 years, Wayne T. Russ; daughter, Angela Russ; son, Shawn Russ; grandchildren, Sydney (Ellis) Krawiec, Spencer Russ, Brooke Ellis, Alexis (Russ) Ender, Madison Ellis, and Brayden Russ; great-grandchildren, Jackson Russ Ellis and Orry Russ; and one brother, Robert E. Cecil, Jr.

Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. on Tuesday in the chapel at James H. Davis Funeral Home & Crematory. Burial will follow in Rosehill Cemetery. Visitation is from 2 to 8 p.m. on Monday and after 9 a.m. on Tuesday at the funeral home.

To say she loved gardening was an understatement. It seemed her time on earth was a mission of sharing her innate, inborn, divinely-God-given talent of horticulture of most all plants whether it was vegetables, flowers, herbs, shrubs, or just any plant and weed.