Russell Hahn Jr.

Russell "Russ" Hahn Jr., 90, of St. Joseph died Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025, at Corewell Health Merlin & Carolyn Hanson Hospice Center, Stevensville.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Starks & Menchinger Chapel, 269-556-9450.

Russ was born on July 15, 1935, in Youngstown, Ohio, the only child of Russell Sr., and Helen Hahn. He grew up in Canfield, Ohio, where he spent his youth working on neighboring farms and helping his uncles build houses. This exposure led him to the Ohio State University where he earned a master's degree in agricultural engineering and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. It was also where he met his wife, Anne Porter, of Richwood, Ohio. Russ and Anne were married on Dec. 29, 1957.

After Russ graduated in 1959, he began his tour of active duty in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. He served as a reserve captain until 1968.

In 1959, he went to work for O.M. Scott & Sons in Marysville, Ohio, where he and Anne began raising their three sons. In 1967, he was hired by the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, ASAE (now ASABE) and moved the family to St. Joseph. Russ' job required that he travel every summer to a different state for a week-long society convention. These trips were turned into wonderful family camping vacations.

In 1975, Richard Nixon's policy of detente opened the door for a delegation of four American engineers to go to Russia. Russ represented ASAE. They spent three weeks behind the Iron Curtain in the Soviet Union making recommendations on the application of standards and uniformity in farm equipment in Moscow, Kiev and Belarus. He retired as the director of standards in 1996.

Russ was a member of First United Methodist Church for 58 years and served on many different committees. He loved the Lord and tried to live his life as Christ taught. He was also a member of the St. Joseph Rotary Club.

Russ was preceded in death by his eldest son, Russ III (Marie) of San Francisco.

He is survived by his wife, Anne; two sons: Mike (Galina) of St. Joseph and Gary (Julie) of Portage, Mich.; and three grandchildren: Anaiza (William) of Manhattan, Noah of Kalamazoo, Mich., and Isabelle of Portage.

The funeral service will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 24, at Pathway Global Methodist Church, with visitation beginning at 6 p.m. Pastor Daniel Colthorp will officiate. If desired, memorial gifts may be made to Pathway Global Methodist Church in St. Joseph or the Hanson Hospice Center in Stevensville.

Interment will be 2 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26, in Claibourne Cemetery in Richwood, Ohio.