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M. Donald "Don" Russell
M. Donald “Don” Russell, 74, went to be with his heavenly father on March 8, 2024, after a long fight with kidney and heart disease.
He was born in Kansas City, Kan., on Nov. 18, 1949, to James L. Russell and Ruth E. Selbe. He was accompanied in birth that day by his twin sister, Maurita “Rita” Garnette Russell (West). Don and Rita were eventually a part of a family that included 12 boys and two girls.
While the family moved a number of times, a good part of Don’s formative years were spent in or near Fulton, Kan. Don’s father, James Lowell Russell passed away on Nov. 29, 1964, at the age of 51.
He married Linda Sue Parrent in Shawnee, Kan., on March 27, 1971, at the home of Linda’s parents. Don had one daughter Jamie Payton, and three sons, Casey, Les and Matthew “Matt” Russell.
Around 1974, Don and Linda came to Fort Scott, Kan., and settled to live. Shortly after the move to Fort Scott he went to work for the city of Fort Scott in the water department. He continued to work for the city of Fort Scott for his entire career, retiring as the city economic development director. Over the course of his career, he led, or supported numerous economic development initiatives for the city and Bourbon County.
He was also active in a number of community organizations, helping others. For many years, he was an active sponsor for Alcoholics Anonymous and he served for years on the Bourbon County Drug and Alcohol council. He also served the community as a reserve police officer for a number of years in his free time from responsibilities at the city.
However, as a member of such a large family, his largest presence was as a husband, father, brother, uncle and grandfather. The Russell family (and the varying surnames that branch off from them) are a large family that loves to gather together. Don was an integral, and beloved part of those gatherings, and will be greatly missed by all of his siblings, children, nieces, nephews, and grandchildren.
Wherever the Russell family gathered together, cars played an important role in those gatherings. Don and many of his brothers loved restoring automobiles. If you drove past Don’s home (or one of the assorted garages they worked from) you regularly saw antique vehicles in some stage of restoration. That love of vehicles continued into retirement when Don and his brothers, bought, scrapped, and continued working on old cars. When pulling a hulk into the driveway, with assorted parts in the bed of the pickup he would have to explain to Linda (who was unconvinced) “look at it, It’s got potential.” Many, many of the Russell children (Don’s nieces and nephews) learned to drive in cars from the 1930s-1960s.
He is survived by his wife Linda, sons Casey and wife (Mindy), Les and wife (Jena), and Matt, daughter Jamie Payton, brothers, Jesse, Dennis, Bob, Wayne, Chuck, and Kevin, four grandchildren, Kaitlyn, Brysen (DeChant), Madilyn, and Max, two great-grandchildren, Landon and Kylie DeChant, along with numerous nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his parents, brothers Jim, Leo (Jay), Joe, Jerry, and Les, his sisters Louise, and Rita as well as numerous other loved ones.
There was cremation. A memorial visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, March 14, 2024 at the Cheney Witt Chapel. Memorials are suggested to Care to Share and may be left in care of the Cheney Witt Chapel, 201 S. Main, P.O. Box 347, Fort Scott, KS 66701. Words of remembrance may be submitted to the online guestbook at cheneywitt.com.