How do I begin this? How do you tell about a man you were married to for 53 years, who was suddenly, as a result of a heart attack, within seconds, gone? We always knew there was the possibility of a Homegoing for each of us, as we were both in our 70s; and he said he thought it would be his heart, because of the myotonic muscular dystrophy that was active in his body. A characteristic of that disease was sudden death from an electrical conduction malfunction which would stop the heart.
How do you have joy in the midst of sorrow? A few weeks before it happened, I woke up with an old song on my mind — “I’m Trading My Sorrows.” I looked up the lyrics and thanked the Lord for it, but I didn’t know it was prophetic. It goes on to say, “I’m laying them down for the joy of the Lord.”
When Royce died about 3 a.m. the morning of Feb. 1, 2018, here at home, I was devastated, of course. The sorrow was intense, but later, after I thought about how it all happened, I realized how God had blessed us so much in our 53 years of marriage, how He had prepared Royce and me for this eventuality, and how Royce was spared so much suffering by going the way he did! Even later that day, the joy began coming, little by little until it replaced the sorrow to a great extent!
Royce Gale Russell was born Sept. 20, 1941, in Marion County. His parents were Willie Jewell and Mittie Hammond Russell of Foxworth, and he was the next to the youngest of eight children, five boys and three girls.
Gale, as the family called him, and I met at William Carey College in the spring of 1964. We were married that same year, at First Baptist Church of Gautier, on Oct. 17, right before his graduation at the end of that semeste
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My college degree had to wait until spring of 1967, and our first child, David, was born Nov. 12, 1967. Robin, Mary Kay, Reba, and Joanie were all born between 1969 and 1978. We have been blessed with 10 grandchildren, including one precious granddaughter in Heaven.
For three years, Royce taught middle school and high school math. When we had our first child, he realized he needed a better-paying job in order for me to stay home with the baby, and the ones to come. He began work in an office job at Ingalls Shipbuilding, and retired from there as a senior technical writer in February 2000, completing exactly 32 years.
After we moved here, while I taught at Newton County High School, Royce was employed one year as custodian at Clarke-Venable Memorial Baptist Church. After that, he decided to stay home but was kept busy, loving on Mary Kay’s children who were babies about that time. Kayla and Jonathan were rocked, swung, and sung to, as well as Anna, several years later. Our other children and grandchildren have lived in several other Southern states. Naturally, we visited with them as much as possible, by our traveling there and visiting us, first in Gautier, one year in Kosciusko, then here in Decatur since 2000. These “young’uns” were the joy of Royce’s life, with rocking, singing, and swinging continuing when possible.
If I had interviewed my husband in the same way I have done others, I would have asked about his salvation experience. This is what happened to him. Royce had attended a small, rural Baptist church near his home for a while, when he “walked the aisle” to become a Christian. Unfortunately, the pastor did not follow up with baptism or even a visit to the home to discuss this decision. Therefore, by the time we met in college in 1964, he considered himself an “agnostic,” not knowing whether or not there was a God.
He asked me why I was so certain about my faith, to which I gave him a paraphrase of what I later learned was “Pascal’s Wager.” This idea declares that the person of faith only experiences a good, happy life, even if he is wrong in the end; whereas, the person who rejects belief in God and the gospel, if wrong, will experience hell.
He wanted to learn and willingly went to church with me for several years, until he decided he believed, and asked the pastor to baptize him, thus becoming a member of Gautier First Baptist Church. A year or so later, after we had built a house in north Gautier, we began attending Martin Bluff Baptist Church. During a revival, the evangelist asserted that, if you did not have a “conversion experience,” when you were “born again,” that you may not even be saved.
Royce took that to heart. The following Saturday he got in his little “jon boat,” as he called it, took his Bible, and a book by John and Elizabeth Sherrill, called “They Speak with Other Tongues,” about the Charismatic movement that was sweeping the nation. We had been praying to be blessed with the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, as they had experienced in the Book of Acts.
He pulled his boat up to a red clay bank, got out and sat under a tree. He prayed, read, and pondered, saying to himself, “I don’t even know if I’m saved.” He told me that he was impressed with the thought, “Have you ever asked Me?” He saidhe prayed, “Lord Jesus, save my soul and let me know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I’m saved,” at which time he suddenly began speaking in a language unknown to him, experiencing a joy and peace he had never before known!
When he got home, I asked my very inhibited husband about his morning, to which he threw up his hands and rejoiced, “I got baptized!” He had never been able to raise his hands in praise to God before then. I saw his joy, but I never heard him speak in tongues, as he abided by the verse that prohibited that practice in front of others, unless it was interpreted.
I have never known a more ethical or honest man, being honest to a fault. He would not even attend a sales pitch in order to get a prize, saying he knew he was not going to buy anything. He didn’t talk much, which bothered me. When I asked him why he didn’t, he thought about it and replied, “Well, the more you talk, the more you are apt to hurt somebody’s feelings.”
He taught our family to love God and others, to read His Word, to work in the church, to pray for wisdom, and to be the best we could be in all we did. We may not have always lived up to that, but we have his life and teachings to remind us of what the Lord and His Word teaches. I miss him, but I am so thankful!
You may contact me at lagnesrussell@gmail.com or 601-635-3282.
