Elsie C. Russo

Elsie C. Russo, 91, a longtime resident of Toms River, passed away on Wednesday, September 14, 2011 at Community Medical Center in Toms River. Born in the Bronx, NY, she grew up in Lakewood before moving to Toms River. She was the first Policewoman of Dover Township Police Department. For 33 years Elsie proudly worked for the police department, serving as a police officer and later as secretary of records before retiring in 1992. She was a parishioner of St. Joseph’s Church in Toms River and a member of the Altar Rosary Society. Elsie was an avid reader and loved music of the 40’s.

She was predeceased by her husband James J. Russo in 2007, her parents, Alfred and Elizabeth Clement, her brother Alfred Clement,her grandson Richard Lee Russo, granddaughter Jamie Marie Russo and her great grandson Andrew Di Lorenzo. Surviving are her four children, Beth Torres and her husband Luis, Jay Russo and his wife Judy, Joan Romano and her husband Michael and Marianne Burris and her husband Walter “Gene”; her sister Dorothea Fitzgerald; her grandchildren, Alisa Di Lorenzo and her husband Tony, Andre Torres and his wife, Shawn, Amy Popailo and her husband Paul, Maggie Fordyce and her husband Rodwell, Jason Burris, Billy Church and his wife April, Renee Piscitelli and Michele Romano; her cherished great grandchildren, Alex, Abby, Jeremiah, Ari, Bri, Mia, Victoria, Angela, Rodlynn and Rodwell Jr. and her nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be held on Sunday, September 18, 2011, from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. at Anderson and Campbell Funeral Home, 703 Main St. Toms River. A funeral mass will be celebrated on Monday at 10:00 a.m. at St. Joseph’s Church, 685 Hooper Ave., Toms River. Cremation will be private. Donations in Elsie’s memory may be made to James J. and Elsie C. Russo Memorial Scholarship Fund in which she proudly founded in 2007. Donations can be sent to 223 Dayton Ave. Toms River NJ 08753. Condolences may be made by visiting www.andersonandcampbell.com.