Holland, Helen   	

OVERTON - Helen Gay Russell Florence Holland, of Overton, died Wednesday, October 10, 
2007, at The Willows of Kilgore, where she had resided since December 6, 2004. She 
died a mere two miles from where she was born and raised on Lantrip Street in her 
beloved Kilgore. She was 87.

Mrs. Holland was born April 10, 1920, the daughter of George Crew and Allie Fite 
Russell, and the granddaughter of Burr Davis and Annie Meadows Russell, and James 
David and Dora Smith Fite. She attended school in Kilgore, where she played forward 
on the basketball team and participated in the girls' drill team, tennis and drama 
clubs and Girls' Sports Association. After graduating in 1937, she then attended 
Kilgore Junior College.

At age 16, Helen was baptized in a cleaned-out slush pit near Kilgore, becoming a 
member of the Church of Christ in Kilgore and later Overton. She faithfully served her 
Lord the rest of her life.

On November 21, 1940, she married Douglas Doyle "Snookie" Florence of the Red Level/
Overton area. He served as a mechanic and medical technician in the U.S. Army's Second 
Division during World War II. After the war, he worked as a butcher for several area 
grocery stores and then died in Overton in 1970. Her second husband, Howard Julius 
Holland, was born in Gatewood, Missouri, and died February 21, 1994, in Overton. He was 
a longtime employee of Exxon.

Helen enjoyed gardening, golfing, cooking for family and friends, sewing, fishing, the 
color red and all church-related activities. She was a member of the Exxon Longview 
Exxes Club No. 055.

Helen was preceded in death by her parents, George Crew and Allie Fite Russell, formerly 
of Kilgore; two brothers, James Burr Russell, formerly of Camp Springs, Maryland, and 
Morris Dwane Russell Sr., formerly of Louisiana; and two nephews, Morris Dwane Russell 
Jr., formerly of Louisiana, and George James Russell, formerly of Pomfret, Maryland.

Survivors include her nephew, Michael D. Russell of Alexandria, Virginia; niece, 
Patricia Russell of Pomfret, Maryland; niece, Wanda Russell Monrey of Louisiana; 
numerous Russell, Fite, Florence and Holland relatives; and a host of friends, spanning 
more than eight decades.

A graveside service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning, October 13, 2007, at 
the Overton Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be sent to the LifeCare Hospice of Longview, 1809 Gilmer Rd., 
Longview, TX 75604.

The family will receive friends from 6-8 p.m. this evening, October 12, 2007, at the 
Burrows Overton Funeral Home.
Published in the Longview News-Journal on 10/12/2007.