Pat Russell (December 31, 1923 – February 11, 2021) was an American community activist and member of the Los Angeles City Council. She was the fourth woman to serve on that city council (1969–87) and the first woman to be City Council president (1983–87). Early life Russell was born in Portland, Oregon, on December 31, 1923. Her father, Paul Ostroot, worked for General Mills; her mother, Ruth (Chapman), was a Phi Beta Kappa "in a time when few women competed for college grades." She was educated in Portland and received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Washington, where she was a Phi Beta Kappa and president of the student body. During World War II she carried mail and worked in a furniture factory. She earned a secondary teaching credential from UCLA. Public service Nongovernmental Russell was president of the Los Angeles City League of Women Voters in 1963-65 and of the Los Angeles County LWV in 1966-68. She was on the board of directors of the Los Angeles Urban Coalition and was vice president of its transportation task force. She was active in Camp Fire Girls leadership. She was a Los Angeles Times Woman of the Year in 1971 and received a Status of Women Award from the Santa Monica branch of the American Association of University Women in 1972. After her City Council defeat in 1987, Russell organized the Regional Institute of Southern California, a public-private partnership that explored local problems; she worked there "about half time" as the agency head. City Council Geography Los Angeles City Council District 6 covered: 1969: The Airport area, including Westchester and Playa del Rey, the Baldwin Hills area, including Hyde Park and Leimert Park and the Mar Vista-Venice area. 1975: From the coast inland to the Crenshaw District, with Venice, Westchester and portions of South-Central Los Angeles. Elections See also List of Los Angeles municipal election returns, 1969 and after With the July 2, 1969, resignation of Councilman L.E. Timberlake, the City Council, by a 9-5 vote, ordered a "precedent-setting" special election to fill the 6th District vacancy. It was to be the first such first-past-the-post special election to fill a council vacancy since the procedure was authorized in a city charter amendment in 1963. The alternative would have been for the City Council to appoint a successor for the remaining term of some years. Russell won the special vote