Russell Roberts Pearson

Russell Roberts PEARSON Russell Roberts Pearson, 85,died on Saturday, March 24, of complications from breaking his hip eight days earlier. Born on December 6, 1926, in St. Paul, Minnesota, he graduated from Central High School there in June 1943, then graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in June 1947. After serving in the U.S. Navy in World War II, he worked as a civilian employee of the U.S. military government in Germany from 1947 until 1949. He received a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1952.He was a U.S. Foreign Service Officer from 1952 until 1961, with overseas posts in Salzburg, Austria, and Cairo, Egypt. He came to Seattle in 1961. After two years with the Boeing Company, he served as a deputy prosecuting attorney with King County from 1963 through 1966, was general counsel for Blue Cross of Washington and Alaska from 1978 until 1987, and was associated with several small Seattle law firms, practicing law into his late 70s. Mr. Pearson volunteered for various civic organizations in Seattle, including the Municipal League of King County, where he served on the candidate evaluation committee. A supporter and all-weather rider of public transportation, he received a Good Neighbor Award in 1999 forhis work on a Laurelhurst transportation advisory board. Mr. Pearson attended University Congregational United Church of Christ since the 1960s and served on its council and several boards. He leaves his wife of 48 years, the former Lois Ann Divelbiss; a son, Matthew, his wife Julie, and their children, Ezra, Katherine and Claire; and a daughter, Sarah Jackson, her husband Leif, and their two daughters, Maya and Bella, all of Seattle; brother Stanley of Kansas City, sister Barbara of San Francisco, and their families. Services will be held at University Congregational United Church of Christ, 4515 Sixteenth Avenue N.E. in Seattle, at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 7, 2012. Mr. Pearson suggested that any gifts may be made to the church's memorial fund.