MELANIE RUSSELL

Palmer resident Melanie Gayle Russell, 45, died Dec. 5, 2003, at home, of complications of multiple sclerosis.

A memorial service will be held at a later date.

Mrs. Russell was born April 25, 1958, in Beaumont, Texas. She graduated from high school in 1976, and came to Alaska in July of 1980. She attended Mat-Su Community College in 1984-85, and graduated from Angelina College in Texas in 1991.

She had resided in Sitka, Barrow and Palmer.

She was employed by the North Slope Borough in 1980-82 and 1984-85. She had worked for Micro Management Systems in Wasilla from 1985 to 1989, and at Trinity Memorial Hospital in Texas in 1991. She was a registered X-ray radiology technologist.

Her hobbies and special interests were listening to country music, painting, and spending time with her children and family.

Her family said, "Melanie will be remembered for her sweet smile, her easy-going disposition and her love for babies."

She is survived by her husband Kenneth and daughters Megan and Caitlin, of Palmer; mother Gayle Harvey of Wasilla; father Bill Harvey of Wasilla; mother-in-law Elenora Russell of Palmer; sister Eileen McKown of Wasilla; brother Darrell Harvey of St. Marys, Georgia; and numerous other relatives and friends throughout Alaska and the Lower 48.

Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of Mat-Su, 3051 East Palmer-Wasilla Highway, Wasilla, AK 99654.

Arrangements were made by Valley Funeral Home & Crematory.