Folsom Funeral Service

Louise Harding Russell died peacefully on April 14, 2020 in Needham, MA. She was 74. In addition to struggling for several years with advancing dementia, several other health issues had recently arisen that were then exacerbated by complications from the Covid-19 virus. She was mercifully spared the inevitable progression of her Alzheimers. Louise was born in Great Lakes, Illinois in 1945 on September 18th, her elder brother’s fifth birthday. Unfortunately, she was diagnosed with the congenital condition of spina bifida that left her paralyzed from the waist down. Her parents, Louise Harding Russell and Henry Edwards Russell, resolved to set high expectations for her in order that she might live as normal and full a life as possible. Until the age of thirteen Louise grew up in the Chestnut Hill area of Boston, attending Beaver Country Day School. Some of the happiest times in her life were spent with her brothers and her twenty-five first cousins at the Harding family summer home in Cataumet on Cape Cod. In 1958 her family moved to Cleveland, OH, where she completed her secondary schooling at the Laurel School in Shaker Heights. During this time, Louise succeeded in fulfilling the requirements for a driver’s license using hand controls, thereby greatly expanding her independence. Later she attended American University in Washington, DC . After several years in California, she returned to the Boston area where she worked at various organizations including the Massachusetts Zoological Society at the Franklin Park Zoo where she assisted in fundraising. From there, in 1976, she began work as Program Coordinator in the Rehabilitation Services Department of Mclean Hospital in Belmont, MA where she directed skills assessment and a training program for psychiatric patents. In 1981 she accepted the position of Director, Patient Relations at Children’s Hospital Boston, a new office designed to respond to concerns and complaints from patients and their families, and to supervise undergraduate and graduate interns and medical students in the investigation and resolution of complaints regarding clinical care, staff attitudes, and the hospital environment. The passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) in 1990 gave rise to a new professional “field” and in 1991 Louise accepted an offer from Harvard University to oversee a newly created Accessible Education office designed to focus on the myriad needs of students with disabilities . Her duties included oversight of the administration of individualized services for then over 300 undergraduates and graduate students with physical, learning and psychiatric disabilities. She was widely recognized and respected as a pioneer in best practices for management of student disabilities programs and the creation of internal departmental policies that accorded with Federal and State laws. Louise served on many committees including as Chair of the University Disability Coordinators’ meetings, Member of the Administrative Board of Harvard College, and Officer of the national Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD). She also served as a member of the board of Beaver Country Day School and the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Other achievements included the completion in 1997 of a Master of Arts degree in Dispute Resolution at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and starting in 1988 nearly twenty-nine years of consulting work with Educational Testing Service (ETS) in Princeton, New Jersey. In 2007, Louise bought a home in Woodstock, VT and, after nearly twenty years at Harvard, retired there in 2010. In appreciative recognition of her many important pioneering contributions, the University chose to award her its esteemed Administrative Prize at Harvard, the only such award for administration. For over thirty years she had a series of canine companions, often a golden retriever. Like her two brothers, she was a lifelong Red Sox fan; she named her last dog “Fenway.” Her Red Sox cap was often on her head. Once living in Woodstock, she established a wonderful network of friends some of whom enlisted her help in expanding disability access in the area. She became a regular favorite at the Farmers’ Market where each morning she’d pick up the newspaper and coffee. Louise’s versatile humor and keen sense of mischief were ever-present, with a wit that could be sharp and biting when appropriate as well as silly and jolly, making for fun and uplifting moments. She learned naturally in her family and from her parents’ many friends that humor and laughter are necessities at all times, as much when the tide of life is low as when it is high. One of her favorite photographs captured her with a huge smile as she alone held the large wheel of a friend’s beautiful sailboat in a windy San Francisco Bay. The look of confidence, satisfaction and joy leaves no doubt as to who was in charge of where she was going. She was the captain of her ship. And she encouraged many others how thus to be. Louise is survived by her brother William E. “Bill” Russell and his wife, Jan, her brother Henry E. “Tim” Russell, Jr and his wife, Dianne, two nieces, three nephews, eight great nieces and nephews, and her twenty Harding first cousins whom she cherished. There will be a celebration of Louise’s life at a time yet to be determined. Memorial donations may be made to: Pet Partners (www.petpartners.org); Children’s Hospital Boston (www.childrenshospital.org)

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