In researching Viola Russ McBride one must keep in mind that she changed her name from Dorthy May Russ to Viola Russ McBride. I remember asking my dad about this and he mentioned it was to more closely resemble her mother’s name, Viola May Russ (Lake), who died in1913 when Dorthy  was about 7 yrs old.  I remember some family commonly referring to her as Dot. I wished I knew more, but those in the know are gone or not talking much.

Note: Patricia Costanzo (Patty Jean) has scanned hundreds of photo from Viola’s collection, rendering them into a digital format. VMET is working on an accessible portal for browsing the collection.