WALLY RUSSELL OBITUARY

Wallace ‘Wally’ Mayro Russell as his vanity plates attest, 9-T-Plus, was ninety years old when he died. Resident of Newberg since May, 1980 (when Mt Saint Helens blew), currently having lived in the Firendsview Manor Retirement Community. He passed in to eternity June 30, 2012 at Good Samaritan Hospital, Portland from complication of aortic valve surgery.

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Wally was born November 2, 1921 in Grass Valley, Oregon to Homer and Venita McKinney Russell. Four siblings, Gordon who died at a young age, Harriet Hughes, Earl Russell deceased, and Esther Wagner.

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In 1929 his family moved from the 1000 acre wheat ranch to the outskirts of Portland to the small community now known as Fairdale. In 1933, he moved to a home on Cornell Rd which was considered country at the time. It was during the depression and at times the only food in the house was potatoes and flour to make pancakes and biscuits and gravy. Grandpa bought a Jersey Cow at the auction for $2.00 to have milk and cream. He had one pair of shoes, two pairs of pants and two shirts. One for Sunday and one for school.

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In 1936, he moved to the east side of Portland where his family attended what is now Hinson Memorial Baptist church.

Wally graduated from Sherwood Union High School receiving his diploma in 1947 after WWII. During those teen years he worked for the Smeltzers on Chehalem Mountain where he became friends with the brothers of Ellen Marie Jaquith. The war began, Wally enlisted in flight training school. He graduated from aviation cadet school, Williams Field, Chadler, Arizona, November 2 1943, with Ellen Marie in attendance. They traveled by train, stopped in Sacramento to buy wedding rings, got off in Salem November 6th, where Judge Page, a family uncle issued them a marriage license. Sunday morning November 7th, 1943 at Mountain Home Evangelical Church, they were married.

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Wally served as a cargo troop carrier pilot during WWII, serving in the battles of Normandy; Rhineland; Northern France; Ardennes; and Central Europe. He received air medal with one oak leaf cluster; and the European African Middle Easter Service Medal with five Bronze Stars. He was discharged and returned home September 1945, as a First Lieutenant and later reenlisting in the Air Force Reserves, retiring with the rank of Major in 1969.

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After the war, Wally attended Pacific College, now GFU, for several years, with the intent of becoming a minister with his church. He even helped lay some of the sidewalk around Minthorn Hall. Two children and a wife with medical needs necessitated him looking for employment with benefits, so with a letter in hand from Harry Schmeltzer, State Representative, he was instantly hired by Oregon State Penitentiary and within the next year tested to become a correctional officer fo the federal bureau of prisons, and moved to the Puget Sound area with his now three children. He worked at McNeil Island for 27 years retiring in 1975.

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Living on The Island, he was superintendent of the Sunday School, and actively involved in keeping his boys out of mischief. He was active in the NRA and won awards as a marksman and taught his boys …., well his daughter learned to shoot a 22, but that was it for her.

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There were now six children and as his oldest was a girl, he felt the confinement of the island was no place to raise teenagers, so we moved to Steilacoom in 1959. He continued to work on the island but also began Crest Lawn Service. His sons and future son-in-law aided him in this venture. There were many others along the way.

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He like to hunt and with his LISTS made, took his boys one story you will hear later. Sharon remembers rabbit hunting by spotlight with an old truck running through fields at night up in the San Juans.

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In 1980, Wally moved with his wife, Ellen, back to Newberg, Oregon. He bought out Russ Pack oil burner business and began his own, which later became known as A One Furnace Service.

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Over the next years, Wally was active in the Rotary, keeping its coffers full, bragging about all his children and grandchildren and their accomplishments. He was known for selling the most pancake breakfast tickets, sharing htem with family and friends. He made sure Oregon State song was sung on the States’ anniversary.

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Wally was one of the founder’s of the Mayor’s Prayer breakfast, Chairman of the Newberg Planning Commission, Republican Precinct Chair, on the board of Chehalem Youth and Family, chairman of NARFE – National Association of Retired Federal Employees, chairman of the Technical Committee of the Oil Heat Institute of Oregon, member of the board of directors of the Newberg Area Chamber of Commerce, member of the advisory board of the state Energy Conservation Commission, chaired the River Street Church of God council, Citizen of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, starting the Fit For Life Program with Faith in Action, active in City Club and Greeters, and many others.

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Wally was an avid reader; everything from politics, gardening, theology, music, health issues and he had an opinion about them all. He enjoyed hunting, camping, but most of all, he enjoyed his family. Caring about every aspect of their lives, praying for them, encouraging helping them. He extended that care to many who had family challenges, taking them under his wing.

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Wally loved a good story and delighted in playing small jokes on people, especially when it involved the use of a prop. His dearest loves, His Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and his beloved wife of 68 ½ years, Ellen Marie, who resides in the health center of Friendsview Manor.

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Wally has trusted God for every provision in his life and was never disappointed. His favorite verse is Provers 16;(, “Man makes his plans but God directs his footsteps” which Wally interpreted to mean that Man is responsible for setting goals being confident that God will guide at the right time.

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Wally chose to move ahead with the aortic vale surgery, with the hope is would extend his life another five years rather than the 3 + months he had been given. He was confident in His Savior and knew the outcome was God’s plan not his. He fought the good fight, and has now won.