Donald M. Russell Jr. ’52 died on November 19, 2021, in Rye, New Hampshire

(The following was provided by the Portland Press Herald on November 30, 2021)

Donald Merrill Russell Jr.

RYE, N.H. – Donald Merrill Russell Jr., 90, passed away peacefully Nov. 19, 2021, at Webster at Rye Assisted Living Community, Rye, N.H. He was born Jan. 27, 1931, in Portland, Maine, to Donald Merrill and Helen Kilborn Russell.

Don graduated from Grosse Pointe South (Michigan) High School in 1948. Upon graduating from Bowdoin College in 1952, he attended the U.S. Naval Officer Candidate School in Newport, R.I., where he was commissioned an ensign. He was subsequently assigned to the USS Fox and remained in the Reserves, retiring after twenty-two years as a lieutenant commander. He spent more than thirty years working as an electronics engineer and manager for GTE Sylvania.

He married Dorothy E. Burton of Wenham, Mass., in October 1952. Don and his wife were blessed with three children, nine grandchildren and five great grand-children. Donald was predeceased by his wife of forty-six years and his younger brother, Phil, of Abington, Pa. He is survived by his three children: Ellen H. Incillo and her husband, John, of Simsbury, Conn.; Burton S. Russell and his wife, Trisha, of Rye, N.H., and Donald M. Russell, III and his fiancée, Beth Ansheles, of South Portland; and his sister, Barbara Thayer of Bethlehem, Pa.

Don’s life-long passion for antique cars had him actively involved in several clubs, but he mostly enjoyed driving and sharing them with others, content to see the smiles they brought to people. He always stressed the importance of family, and even as health declined, frequent visits from grandchildren and great grand-children brought a smile to his face and provided immeasurable joy.