2026 SESSION
ENROLLED
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 117
Celebrating the life of Russell Elliot Wiley.
Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 16, 2026
Agreed to by the Senate, February 19, 2026
WHEREAS, Russell Elliot Wiley, a vibrant member of the Alexandria community, died on November 4, 2025; and
WHEREAS, Russell “Russ” Elliot Wiley spent her early life in Richmond, Bowling Green, and Lynchburg, where she graduated from E.C. Glass High School; and
WHEREAS, Russ Wiley continued her education at the University of Richmond's Westhampton College, then transferred to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee; after asking another student, Russ Davis, to borrow class notes, the couple bonded over sharing the same name and began a relationship that lasted more than five decades; and
WHEREAS, Russ Wiley received a bachelor's degree in psychology from Vanderbilt University, then attended a sociology graduate program, and subsequently taught pre-retirement classes at the University of Tennessee at Nashville; and
WHEREAS, in 1979, Russ Wiley and her husband relocated to Alexandria after he accepted a position with the United States Census Bureau; she held several part-time jobs over the years, ultimately becoming manager of a Crown Books location; and