BANGOR AND SEARSPORT – John Patrick Russell Sr., 78, died at home unexpectedly December 28, 2013. John was born May 13, 1935 in Bangor, dedicated son of Cornelius J. Russell Jr. and Rose (Maynard) Russell.
John graduated from John Bapst High School in 1953 and was captain of the baseball team, later earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Business and Economics from the University of Maine in 1957. He was a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. John married Jane Farwell in 1957 and immediately began his successful career in business beginning with the Goldsmith Agency in Orono where he sold insurance and real estate. He later founded Russell Associates including real estate development. He and his older brother “Connie” owned and operated the University Motor Inn in Orono and the Penobscot Inn in Bangor where he served as Treasurer. He was an avid golfer all of his life and a longtime member of Penobscot Valley Country Club. John was a member of the Bangor Board of Realtors and the Bangor Jaycees, and Chairman of the Heart Fund Orono. He enjoyed gardening, partridge hunting and fly fishing, especially Atlantic Salmon fishing on the Miramichi River, New Brunswick.
John was predeceased by his parents and a brother, Cornelius J. Russell III. John is survived by his loving wife of 57 years Jane Russell, his son John P. Russell Jr. and wife Lee, son Cornelius J. Russell Sr. and wife Juliet, daughters Julie Russell and Nathaniel Ives, Kathleen Russell and Amy Tatusko and husband Mark; grandchildren John and Kathleen Tatusko, James Treadwell, and Jacqueline and Cornelius Jr.
Family and friends are invited to visit 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 2, 2014 at Hampden-Gilpatrick Funeral Home, 45 Western Ave., Hampden, where a funeral service will be held 11 a.m. Friday, January 3, 2013. Interment will be private at Mt. Pleasant Catholic Cemetery, Bangor. In lieu flowers memorial contributions in John’s honor may be made to the Carver Memorial Library, P.O. Box 439, Searsport, ME 04974. Messages of condolence and memories may be shared through www.hampdengilpatrick.com.
John P. Russell Sr.
