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William Robert Russell, of South Pasadena, California, passed away on December 30, 2006, in his beloved Victorian home at the age of 75.
Bill, a South Pasadena High School alumni, had an unparalleled zest for life and thirst for knowledge. He spent his life restoring antique automobiles, motorcycles, clocks and watches, and dabbled in a host of other hobbies including astronomy, photography, sailing, glass blowing, jewel cutting, wood working, and computer programming. He enjoyed racing motorcycles in his younger years, and raced several restored automobiles in the Great American Race. He was a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary, and assisted in escorting the HMS Queen Mary to her present home in Long Beach, California.
Together with his wife of 58 years, they restored their current, historic home to its original period, designing and constructing all repairs and additions themselves. Mr. Russell is survived by his wife, Nancy Way Russell (SPHS '50), his sons, Mark Russell (SPHS '67) and Kent Russell (SPHS '69), his daughter, Lee Russell Hamel (SPHS 73), his eight grandchildren, and his six great-grandchildren.
Pasadena Star-News, Janury 3, 2007
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Lee Russell (Hamel) (1973)
My dad was an amazing man, whom I miss every day. Growing up with him we never experienced a dull moment - he was always finding new things to explore and learn about. There wasn't anything that didn't interest him, and if it interested him enough, he would master it and share it with us.
He built and flew remote control airplanes on the little league fields in the Arroyo for awhile, and I remember he "landed" a plane with a 4-foot wing span in some poor, unsuspecting woman's back yard one time while she was gardening. When my dad finally located the right house he greeted a wide eyed occupant, who was relieved to hear that the plane belonged to my father. She told him, "I just kept waiting for the little people to get off the plane!"
In addition to all the things listed in this memorial, there are so many great stories about my dad. He rode in the Lake Elsinore motorcycle races with Steve McQueen. He sailed a 23-foot, all-teak sailboat around the Channel Islands. He played the piano and loved to ski when he was younger. He built a telescope and showed me the craters and hills and valleys on the moon before NASA ever got close to landing on it. He was artistic, mechanical, logical, funny, serious, and fascinating. And he always drove a car with his foot to the floor and one eye in the rear-view mirror.
Life is, somehow, not quite as exciting without Dad around. But I am so eternally grateful to have had so many great, spine-tingling experiences growing up. We were so lucky to have him in our lives.
Nancy Lee Russell Hamel, SPHS Class of 1973