Hope Davis Russell, 81, died Sunday, June 17, 2018, at The Cedars in Portland, Maine.

Hope was born in Los Angeles, California, on November 30, 1936, to Paul Harry and Dorothy Jackson Davis. She graduated from Boulder High School in Colorado, was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Hawaii, held a Master’s Degree in Zoology from the University of Nebraska, and earned a Doctorate in Public Health from Yale University.

Hope worked in various scientific fields and taught at both the secondary school and college levels. Of particular note was her work with the New York City Department of Health from 1987- 1993, where she contributed to the work on the emerging HIV epidemic.

Hope moved frequently during her life. She lived as far west as Hawaii and as far east as Nigeria, with numerous stops in between. She made friends wherever she made her home and contributed to her community through the many social, professional and political causes dear to her heart. She was actively involved in the Unitarian Universalist Society throughout her adult life. In addition she enjoyed travel, birding, and reading.

She was the mother of two children from her first marriage to Donald E. Watson: Cynthia and Stephen. She welcomed six stepchildren into her life when she married her second husband, James F. Russell: Mark, Theresa, Karen, Kevin, James and Joseph.

Hope was predeceased by her husband, James, in 2008. She is survived by her sister, Carol Davis Harriman. She is also survived by her children and stepchildren and their spouses: Cynthia and Robert Gustavson, Stephen and Edith Watson, Mark and Bernadette Russell, Terri and Rajesh Chawla, Kevin and Lee Ann Russell, Karen and David Brienza, James and Sarah Russell, and Joseph and Mary Russell. She also leaves twenty grandchildren, five grandchildren-in-law, and three great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, August 11, at 2:00 p.m., at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, and Mid Coast Hunger Prevention.

Hope’s family would like to thank the staff at The Cedars for their kind and attentive care during her residence there.