Philip Russell Cornell, 83, of Little Compton passed away on Thursday, December 26, 2019 at home. He was the husband of Meredith (Wildes) Cornell.

 

Mr. Cornell was born on April 17, 1936 at home to parents Philip H. and Lillian D. (Crossman) Cornell of South Dartmouth. Known as Russy to family and friends, he loved the idyllic life of a farm boy; he got caught driving the John Deere down Smith Neck Road when he was eleven. His best friend Dicky lived across the road; it was cowboys and Indians then. He raised his prized Guernsey heifer, fed chickens, and grew a big garden every year.

 

He walked down to Johnny Point every morning to drive the cows back the barn for milking, then drove them back again at the end of the day when the woods are full of the sounds of the night.

 

Wild onions are the first green on the marsh; the cows relished them. The milk on his cereal in Spring tasted unusual.

 

As an Aggie student, Russell received a national award for milk testing/tasting; a detection of the subtle mis-flavorings in milk. He could have had a job in the city, but he knew where his heart was: At the farm at Smith Neck Road working with Pa.

 

In later years, when local small dairy farms were downright discouraged, he took up his hammer and saw, and found in wood a work he loved.

 

Membership at the Dartmouth Rotary Club was important to him for friendship and its service to the world.

 

His longest belonging, Russell was a birthright member of the Smith Neck Friends Meeting, whose Quaker ideals he faithfully upheld.

 

Along with his wife, Russell is survived by his sister Marcia Glynn, nephew John, niece Martha, great nieces and nephews Kimberley, Kelley and Christopher; great-great nephews Carter, Easton and Russell.

 

He was predeceased by his parents and sister Nancy Bergeron.

 

Funeral service to which relatives and friends are invited will be Saturday, January 4, 2020 at the Smith Neck Friends Meeting, S. Dartmouth, at 10 a.m. Calling hours will be Friday at the Potter Funeral Home, 81 Reed Rd. in Westport from 5-8 p.m. Interment will be private.

 

Flowers are acceptable, or memorial donations may be made to Smith Neck Society of Friends or Dartmouth Historical & Arts Society, Inc., 1205 Russells Mills Rd., Dartmouth, MA 02748. For directions or to sign the online guestbook, visit www.potterfuneralservice.com.