Russell Raymond Barager

Russ skipped a grade in school—he joked that it was because the teacher couldn't take another year of him, but the real reason was that he had performed beyond his age.

He enlisted in the Merchant Marines and then the Navy after World War II erupted and eventually fought in the Pacific island-hopping campaign, right through to Okinawa. Following the war, Russ made his way to Minneapolis, put himself through the University of Minnesota working graveyard shifts, met and married his wife Bea, and started a family. Though his degree was in business, Russ had enough math aptitude to become the only employee in his division at Northern States Power Company who did not have an engineering degree, and the company’s most important accounts were routinely entrusted to him. In addition to his family, to which he was selflessly devoted, his Catholic faith and love of sports were the other pillars of Russ’s life.

He was a natural athlete who past the age of forty could still beat their 16-year-old paperboy in a footrace. He took up tennis at the age of 50 and continued to play into his late 80s, winning many singles and doubles tournaments against club players who had begun playing the game decades before he did. Russ's exemplary life of faith, family, and love of country ended on December 8, 2019, a day after his 94th birthday. He remained to the end the same genuine, kind, humorous man he had always been.

He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Beatrice (Bea) Barager of Plano, Texas, his sister Lorraine Peterson, son Richard Barager and his wife Gail, daughter Barbara Fasola and her husband Ken, two grandchildren, and one great grandchild.

Funeral Mass will be held at 10a.m on Saturday, December 14 at Holy Cross Catholic Church, The Colony Texas.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Russell’s name to The Families of World War II Veterans (familiesww2veterans.org) a charity his service inspired.