Richard W. Russell

RUSSELL, Richard W. Of Dover, formerly of Needham died of complications resulting from cancer on Nov. 4, 2011. At his death, Mr. Russell was President of James Russell Engineering, an innovative, world-class producer of compressed gas trailers and cryogenic engineering technology. Mr. Russell was also a founding partner of Thermax, Inc., an important manufacturer of vaporizers and other related products. Aside from his work and his family, Mr. Russell's interests were broadly divided into boats and books. He was the "powerplant" of the 1949 Yale crew that shocked Harvard (ending 14 consecutive Crimson victories in the Harvard-Yale Regatta) and set a course record that lasted for decades. The previous year, Mr. Russell had narrowly missed qualifying for the U.S. Olympic rowing team. Moreover, Mr. Russell was also a successful sailor in the Wianno Senior class, competing out of Cotuit, Massachusetts, where he maintained a summer house. A graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy, Yale University and a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mr. Russell pursued his passion for learning, reading and discussing history and politics to the end of his life. His interests ranged from the ancient civilizations of the near East to the writings of Sun Tzu and the films of Kurosawa, from the military history of World War Two to the essays and fiction of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. He also served in U.S. Army Counter-Intelligence from 1952 to 1955 and was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon. Mr. Russell was born in Boston and raised in Waban. He was a longtime resident of Needham and then Dover. He is survived by Katherine Wehmann Russell, his wife of 56 years; his children Dr. Warren King Russell II, Elizabeth Suzanne Russell, Margaret Warburg and Richard Andrew Russell; as well as seven grandchildren, one great-grandchild, and his beloved dog, "Dude." Services will be held at the Wellesley Village Congregational Church, 2 Central St., Wellesley on Friday, November 18 at 2pm, with a reception to follow afterwards. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be sent to The Dana- Farber Cancer Institute- Dr. Ramesh Shivdasani Research 10 Brookline Place West Brookline, MA 02445 or The Salvation Army 25 Shawmut Rd Canton, MA 02021. To share a memory of Dick please visit www.eatonfuneralhomes.com Eaton Funeral Home 781-444-0201