Rex Duane Russell (1936-2011)
In Memoriam
Rex Duane Russell passed away, January 25, 2011 from a heart attack. For the last 12 years he had lived in Red Rock, Nevada next
door to Eric and Ruth Russell, his son and daughter-in-law. Rex would
have been 75 this May.
Rex
was the first child of Bill and Pauline (Shepard) Russell, the first
grandchild of Will and Bura Shepard, and the first Great grandchild of
James Brooks and Caroline Davis. (See 1989 picture of Rex with his
father Bill and son Eric, taken at Rex's home in Lakeside, California.)
Rex and his sister Beverly were the only ones among the 12 grandchildren
of Will and Bura to be born in Colorado. They were small children when
the family migrated to Southern California in 1940. Rex is the first of
Will and Bura's grandchildren to pass away as an older adult. Two of
their grandchildren -- Linda and Beverly -- died
as young people.
Rex was raised in San Diego, graduated from San Diego
High School, and retired from San Diego Gas and Electric Company. In 1959 he married Ellen Lane with whom he had one son, Eric. In the
late 1990s, after his second wife Margie died, Rex moved from Southern
California to Red Rock, Nevada.
He
spent some of his summers as a youth visiting family in Oklahoma. I
received an email from Larry Davis a while back regarding one such
visit. (Larry was born the same year as Rex, and is a first cousin of
Rex's mom Pauline Shepard.) Larry:
"I remember Rex when I was
probably in the 7th Grade. Rex came to Oklahoma as a teenager in the
early 1950's. I am not sure but I believe Rex Russell and Lyndel Jenkins
blew up the entire Oklahoma panhandle with fire crackers during the
week Rex came to visit us."
Rex was a fun loving
guy, and quite an outdoors man. One of his favorite places was Kaibab, Arizona, where his ashes will be scattered. In recent years he also loved living in
the boondocks of Red Rock, Nevada near Eric and Ruth, racing his Camaro
occasionally, and riding his horse Roper. (See picture of Rex above, taken in December, 2010 with a San Francisco 49er Cheerleader.)
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Here are some other pictures of Rex and his family over the years:
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| Rex and his horse Roper, 2009 |
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| Rex in 2006 |
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| Rex riding his horse Roper, 2007 |
He
spent some of his summers as a youth visiting family in Oklahoma. I
received an email from Larry Davis a while back regarding one such
visit. (Larry was born the same year as Rex, and is a first cousin of
Rex's mom Pauline Shepard.) Larry: "I remember Rex when I was
probably in the 7th Grade. Rex came to Oklahoma as a teenager in the
early 1950's. I am not sure but I believe Rex Russell and Lyndel Jenkins
blew up the entire Oklahoma panhandle with fire crackers during the
week Rex came to visit us."
Rex
was the first child of Bill and Pauline (Shepard) Russell, the first
grandchild of Will and Bura Shepard, and the first Great grandchild of
James Brooks and Caroline Davis. (See 1989 picture of Rex with his
father Bill and son Eric, taken at Rex's home in Lakeside, California.)
