Obituary

05 June 2002 |

Francene Russ
Campus telephone operator supervisor Francene Russ passed away May 3 after a brief battle with cancer.

Russ was known to faculty and staff across the campus through her role as campus directory listings coordinator. She worked closely with campus individuals and departments, spending many hours ensuring listings for the campus and public phone directories were complete and correct. In addition, Russ managed distribution of the campus and Pacific Bell directories to campus users.

Russ’s quiet efficiency and her positive attitude were an inspiration to those who worked with her. And although most of her contact with campus customers was by phone, they felt as if they knew her. Gleoria Bradley-Stapp, management services officer in Environment Science, Policy and Management, wrote of Russ: “She had a way about handling my … questions about updating the campus directory or ordering Pacific Bell Yellow Pages that made me feel I wasn’t causing her undue hardship or stress. She was also kind and courteous. Her life touched everyone on campus, and we won’t be able to look at a campus directory without remembering her.”

Russ was born and raised in Berkeley and graduated from Berkeley High School. She began working for the university in 1980, and worked for Com-munication and Network Services (formerly Telecommunic-ations) for most of her university career.

She is survived by two sons, Mark and Jonathan Russ; a daughter, Lanisha Russ; two sisters, three grandchildren and a large circle of relatives and friends.