Anna Rae Russell

Anna Rae "Mooney" Russell (née Atkins) died peacefully in the arms of her beloved [and perfect] grandson, Charlie, at The Toledo Hospital in the early morning hours of April 16, 2026, after a brief, unexpected illness.

Born in Pittsburg, Kansas on July 2, 1933, she was the only child of Virginia Detamore and Louis Atkins. Age 92 going on 17, to say that she was feisty until her last day would be an understatement. What she lacked in stature she made up for in spunk. As a child, Anna was once arrested for petty theft (the ONLY time!). The punishment she got after her parents bailed her out helped to reform her, and she turned to other, less criminal forms of mischief. She and her best friend, "Aunt Sarah" would head downtown and stare up the sides of buildings until a small crowd would gather. Then they'd ask the other spectators, "what are we looking at?" before walking away leaving others looking and wondering.

Anna was a woman of seeming contradictions. She was not domestically inclined but worked in housekeeping at St. Vincent Hospital for over 25 years. Despite her "ride-or-die" demeanor, she was a world class worrier. Even after stealing her uncle's Ford Model T at the age of 4 to go "joyriding," she never felt comfortable driving. Still, Anna hopped on the back of her son's motorcycle for rides to work and around town. She was fiercely independent, using public transportation for as long as she could. Her grandkids remember how fun it was to ride the bus with her on errands and getting to ring the bell at their stop. Breakfasts at Bob Evans in the 1990s were a favorite treat after slumber parties at her place where she'd make cinnamon-sugar toast and homemade caramel popcorn. Anna was also famous for fascinating her grandkids with her superhuman ability to remove her "teeth" (dentures).

Anna was constitutionally modest and a deeply religious member of First Apostolic Pentecostal Church. Nonetheless, as a single mother to 4 ornery children whose own feistiness was not to be outdone, she was terrorized mercilessly by irreverent [and completely fabricated] tales about her work as a dancer in Toledo's former red-light district, specifically Lips and Brenda's Body Shop. That irreverence transferred to her grandchildren, often to the shock of anyone who happened to overhear. Despite her indignance, she secretly loved the teasing and would surprise us with her own zingers from time to time, making fun of those same stories.

God help the person who triggered her maternal instincts. Anna was first to attend performances and events with thunderous applause. She was also ejected from numerous sporting events for heckling and menacing umpires and referees who dared to make calls against her kids. On at least one occasion, Anna laid into a school principal for not doing enough to stop bullying. Yet, she never hesitated to take hot wheels tracks to the shins of those very same children. Though she often terrified them, Anna was a mother and grandmother to the friends of her children and grandchildren. She never forgot those who showed her kindness. For years, she asked after people by name even if she'd met them only once. Yet, when she got flustered, she would rattle off the names of all her grandkids until she landed on the right one. As much as life taught her to give, she never shared strawberries with anyone, ever - "don't even THINK about asking!"

Anna was a no-nonsense kind of gal, the pragmatic type. Yet, her favorite pastime was reading. Having gotten her first library card at age 6, Anna was a lifelong card-carrying member of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library. In her later years, when mobility challenges made it impossible for her to visit the library, she took advantage of a delivery program. Over time she grew despondent that she had finished entire collections and she began receiving "repeats." She was a lover of word searches. Anna augmented reading with Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. She surprised her grandkids by learning the lyrics to Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable" and singing along in the car.

Anna was famous for the expressions she used. Instead of saying, "I don't know" she said, "you got me hangin'!" She described an irate person as, "madder than a raped ape." If you were cheap, she'd say you were "tighter than the bark on a tree." If she questioned your common sense, she'd admonish you, "don't take any wooden nickels!" Moody folks were "pissants." When flabbergasted by insolence, she'd exclaim, "never in all my born days!", "son of a pup!", & "now don't you make me get out of this chair!" In response to the state of the world, she frequently said, "this world is going to hell in a handbasket!" When she wanted you to hurry up, she'd say, "well, I'll probably be dead before you [insert major life decision] so what does it matter?" When someone was quibbling over little things, Anna would holler, "6 to 1, 1/2 dozen to another!" After making an outrageous claim, she’d say, “now how true that is, I have no idea!” If someone looked haggard, she'd say they "looked like 10 miles of bad road," which was [usually] followed by an apology and a warning, "ohh, God's gonna get me for that one! I'm telling ya, He's gonna get me!" Anna loved company and when she didn't want a conversation to end, she'd say, "well, who else can we talk about?" Her parting message was often, "come back when you can stay longer." On the subject of longevity, she'd say, "I'm still alive because the Lord's not ready and the devil don't want me - I'm too mean!"

Although it took 92 years, the place Anna's Lord had been preparing for her was finally ready. We are confident that she was greeted at the Pearly Gates by those who preceded her in death: her parents, Virginia (Hubert) Neimeyer and Louis (Alma) Atkins, her sons, Jerry Ray & Douglas Scott Russell, her grandson-in-law, Gerald McNeal, and great grandsons Declan Scott & Elijah Ray Russell. Anna was so proud of her progeny. She is survived by her daughter Lisa (Russell) Gilbert, son Kevin (Pamela) Russell, and daughters-in-law Marian & Judy Russell. Grandchildren Nicholas & Brandy McGranahan, Julianna McNeal, Joseph, Charles (Tharu), Patrick (Sarah), Mary (Shelby), & Sandra Russell, Matt Norris, Erica (Robert) Lloyd, Peter (Dana), KC (Tiffany), Chloe, & Conner (Kelsey) Russell, Jessie (Karl) Vanpelt, Benji Kruzel, and Becca (Gabe) Poupard will all miss her dearly. Anna also leaves behind 32 great grandchildren to carry on her legacy.

Family and friends are invited to celebrate her life at Newcomer Funeral Home, 4150 W. Laskey Rd., Toledo, Ohio 43623. Visitation will be held Monday, April 27, from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Funeral services will be held at the same location on Tuesday, April 28, at 11:00 a.m.