DOLORES RUSSELL GOBLE

1932-2020

Dolores Antoinette Russell Goble passed away peacefully in her sleep on Tuesday, October 20th, 2020. She was preceded in death by her loving parents Gladys Antoinette James Russell and Jim Bradford Russell, Jr; her adoring husband of 50 years, RobertMcMillan “Mack” Goble, with whom she traveled this earthly life with great joy; Mack’s parents LucilleMcMillan Goble and Robert Hall Goble; her beloved older brother, Jim B. Russell, III; and her dear son-in-law Kent Houston Smith. Remaining to cherish her memory are her five children, Lydia Goble LaGue, Nancy Kathryn Goble, Robert Russell “Russ” (Debbie) Goble, Carolyn Anne Goble Smith, and MichaelMcMillan Goble; eight grandchildren, Russell (Jessica) Adkins, Stephanie (Mike) Bentley, Elizabeth (Ryan) Wakim, Henry (Jillian Bleggi) LaGue, Benjamin LaGue, Haley Goble, John LaGue, and Clarke Smith; four great-grandchildren, Kylee & Kaden Adkins and Mack & Lila Bleggi-LaGue; her dear sister-in-law Elfriede Rumpf Russell, nephews Jim Brandoch Russell and Robert (Sara) Russell, niece Susannah (David) Jacobson, great-nieces Jennifer & Lilian Jacobson and great-nephews Michael & William Russell; her “adopted” foreign exchange student children RicardoMartinez and Corinne Godin, and so many other relatives and lifelong friends. All these and countless others with whom Dolores shared a lifetime of joy and loving camaraderie -- close to home as well as literally across the globe – will sorely miss her unending, uplifting optimism and compassion for others while forever remembering her with the deepest fondness and joy.

The family is especially grateful for the tender and attentive care of the staff at Brazos Towers at Bayou Manor (Tony Talley and Quanda Bennett, along with so many others) where Dolores lived the past eight years since moving from the family home of 47 years on North Blvd in Houston.

Dolores was born on the 16th of September 1932 in Houston, TX. When she was 7 years old, her family moved to Kilgore, TX, where her father was an Engineer/Field Supervisor with Gulf Oil, and Dolores always had the fondest memories of growing up in the “piney woods” of East Texas.

Dolores graduated from Kilgore High School in 1949 and attended SouthernMethodist University in Dallas as a Freshman. She transferred to the University of Texas in Austin as a Sophomore and graduated in 1952 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and a minor in Spanish. It was here at UT Austin that she met R. Mack Goble – the love of her life and beloved husband for 50 years. Dolores andMack married on Valentine’s Day of 1953, and by August of 1961 had five children and had settled in Houston – with stops in Philadelphia, El Paso, Monterrey (Mexico), and Shreveport along the way. Mack started his own business in Houston in 1960 as aManufacturer’s Rep. in the petrochemical industry, and for 25+ years Dolores managed the office while also serving as the corporate accountant. Meanwhile Dolores (aka “SuperMom”) somehow also managed to raise those five ever-growing and rambunctious children – dedicating herself on a daily basis to their education, activities, and general wellbeing and awareness of the world around them. Always one to lead by example, Dolores delved into myriad volunteer projects and organizations over the years – including but certainly not limited to community service/outreach through the Episcopal Church (St. John The Divine & Christ Church Cathedral); advocacy of improved educational opportunity, literacy, and social services for the underprivileged; and more than 30 years of service as a Volunteer at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital Auxiliary, where in addition to serving as its President two terms, also worked with (and donated to) the blood donor drives, served as a translator/interpreter for Spanish-speaking patients and their families, and even “manned” the ever popular popcorn cart in the hospital lobby. And oh yes, “along the way” (in the mid1970s) she even went back to school herself and earned a Master’s Degree in Spanish Literature at the University of Houston!

One project especially important to Dolores and to which she dedicated herself in particularly poignant fashion was the non-profit organization she ran on behalf of the Anglican Diocese of Namibia -- SACA/ South African Christian Alliance (later renamed CAN/Christian Alliance of Namibia). Inspired by Anglican “Bishop-in-Exile” Colin Winter of the U.K. (who was expelled by the S. African apartheid government in the 1970s for his efforts to help the under-privileged in the Damaraland region of S.W. Africa, now Namibia), Dolores single-handedly operated this non-profit from her Houston home for over 30 years, raising funds to build new/improved schools for the children while also increasing awareness of the ongoing difficult conditions back in Namibia, where she herself had never been. In 1994, the Anglican Bishop of Namibia invited Dolores to come to Windhoek, Namibia, where she was awarded the official certificate and title of “Honorary Lay Canon” of the Anglican Diocese of Namibia.

Knowledge and understanding of other peoples and cultures was always vitally important to Dolores, and over the many years she and Mack opened their home to countless friends and visitors from literally across the globe – SouthWest Africa, Thailand, Yugoslavia, England, Ukraine, Spain, Norway, Italy, France, Russia, China, Canada, Peru, Turkey, Greece, India, Ecuador, Japan, Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Chile, and Australia ( just to name “a few”!) – with a genuine interest and welcoming warmth that would eventually earn their Houston home the apt nickname of “Goble Arms”. Educational/Cultural groups Dolores actively participated in include The Girl Scouts (Leader, Troop 7 and LifetimeMember of The Emerald Circle), American Field Service (AFS), International Institute of Education (IIE), Alliance Française, Literatae (Women’s Book Club), and River Oaks Association of Democrats (ROADWomen), among so many others.

Dolores was also active from the 1970s onward in the United Nations Association (UNA-USA), serving as the Houston Chapter President in the late ‘70s and again for successive terms from 2003 to 2005. The UNA was an excellent forum for Dolores to further share her passion in the advocacy of international human rights, access to education and health care, gender equality, environmental sustainability, and assistance to the socially under-served and underprivileged. In fact, just this

October 24th, on the 75th Anniversary of the founding of the United Nations itself, and a mere four days after her passing, Dolores was honored with the United Nations Association “Lifetime Achievement Award”. What a perfectly fitting tribute and true testament to the generous, gracious, and genuinely global nature of this remarkable soul, this beautiful human being.

As painful as it is to say goodbye, the family delights in her reunion with her/our belovedMack, perhaps in Hallowed Horseshoe Hall, and lives in hope and faith to see her (& Mack) once again.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the following organizations (or to the charity of your choice):

ALS Association (Texas Chapter)

Girl Scouts of America (San Jacinto Council) Lighthouse for The Blind University of Texas Exes Partners In Health (PIH/ Haiti)

Anglican Diocese of Namibia

United Nations Association / USA – Houston Chapter

Outreach Programs@ Christ Church Cathedral

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