Russell Munroe Waterman

Russell Munroe Waterman passed away peacefully on December 18, 2021 at Brighton Gardens in Atlanta, Georgia. He was born in Seekonk, Massachusetts on May 27, 1928 to Ralph E. Waterman, Sr. and Hope Applebee Munroe Waterman. Russell lived a full life.

Russell, or "Rut" as he was nicknamed, and his older brother, Ralph, attended Newman Avenue Grade School, where their mother was a teacher. Later, Russell played baseball, football, and ran track at North Kingston High School.

Russell and Ralph spent much of their childhood out in nature. Russell often recounted their adventures of climbing trees, hunting, trapping, fishing and engaging in general mischief. A lover of all animals, Russell was always ready to share the story of his near death experience rescuing a great blue heron from a trap, or the tale of Foxie (who ended up in the Attleboro Zoo), or the time the family nursed two orphaned baby flying squirrels to maturity.

From a young age, Russell was a worker. For several years he had a bicycle newspaper route. He claims to have been bitten by dogs on seven separate occasions while delivering papers! In his teens, he worked for Coca-Cola, loading cases of bottled soda onto delivery trucks. Russell frequently attributed his powerful golf swing to the muscles he developed loading those heavy cases of Coke.

Russell crossed two oceans in service to our country. In 1946, after graduating high school, Russell and Ralph joined the Army and crossed the Pacific where they were stationed together in Korea, serving in the Occupation of Japan at the close of World War II. After a period of active service, Russell transitioned to ROTC at the University of Rhode Island, where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Agronomy. Upon graduation, Russell returned to active service and was stationed as an officer at Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, New York, where he met and married Betty, the love of his life, in 1953. Within weeks of their wedding, Russell shipped out across the Atlantic - this time to serve in Germany, during the Korean War. Betty followed a short time later, and they lived outside the base in Baumholder, Germany.

After returning to civilian life, Russ worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and subsequently embarked on a career in sales and marketing, primarily at Shell Chemical, then later at Van Waters & Rogers, and Woodbury Chemical companies. While at Shell, Russ was very proud to be recognized for sales excellence as the 1974 recipient of the Silver Plowshare Award. He and Betty treasured the many friendships made with Shell families over years. During the St. Louis years, Russ and Betty had fun throwing an annual luau. In Allendale, they enjoyed hosting dinner parties with other Shell couples. Enduring bonds also formed with the Shell families transferred in 1969 from the NYC office to the San Ramon, California office. In recent years Russ and Betty loved participating at the Shell reunions and Russ had the joy of planning the Orlando reunion.

Learning at the knee of his father, a master carpenter and house builder, Russ was proud to put his building skills to use as an Army carpenter while stationed in Korea. A lifelong do-it-yourselfer, Russ would tackle all home projects great and small – from installing plumbing and electrical, to assembling cardboard doll houses! He once rebuilt a car engine using a book checked out from the library. While living in St. Louis in the mid-1960s, Russ came across an opportunity to purchase a beautiful quartered-oak pool table. Although there was no room for the pool table in the family home, Russ was undeterred. He solved the problem by single-handedly adding a room to the house. He duly christened the room by running the table on his first rack of balls.

Moving the family to Florida in 1971, Russ and Betty contracted to have a home built in the Bay Hill subdivision in southwest Orlando (at the time, a neighborhood surrounded by citrus groves bordering tree-lined lakes). During the 50 years that Russ and Betty lived in Orlando, Russ loved tinkering in the garage workshop that he designed and built. Moving into the Bay Hill house also provided Russ the opportunity to dive into two additional longtime passions – gardening and golf. Over the five decades he and Betty lived there, Russ nurtured a lush landscape around the family home, taking pride in growing tomatoes and making fresh citrus juice from the grapefruit, orange, tangerine and Murcott trees in the yard. Longtime members of the Bay Hill golf club, Russell organized the "Sweet Sixteen" men's golf group, which played Saturday mornings. Russell proudly achieved a low handicap of nine, winning a number of golf trophies over the years.

A lifelong and devoted fan of the Boston sports teams, Russ had a particular love and affection for the Red Sox. Having lived through Red Sox World Series losses in 1946, 1967, 1975, and 1986, Russ was ecstatic when the Sox won the World Series in 2004. He often decked himself out in Boston team gear, and always delighted in chatting with strangers who noticed his Sox hat, or whatever he might be wearing at the time. With the advent of streaming media, Russ never missed a Red Sox game, offering detailed critique of all games, win or lose, up through the 2021 season.

A resilient and resourceful man, with an insatiable curiosity, no one ever got more out of the purchase of a set of encyclopedias. Russ was forever surrounded by stacks of World Book encyclopedias, world atlases, fold-out maps, National Geographic magazines and various other reference materials.

In his retirement years, Russ was known to, at a moment’s notice, pull out his harmonica and crank out a couple of tunes, break into song, or recite poetry, often Longfellow. He never ceased to amaze his audience with something previously unheard. Russ often chuckled when thinking back on learning the harmonica as an eighteen year old, in his bunk, seven bunks up high, honking away, much to the chagrin of his fellow troops aboard ship, headed for Southeast Asia.

A patriotic man, he loved his country.

An all-around friendly and sociable guy, Russ had a twinkle in his eye. He truly loved people, telling stories, and engaging in lively conversation. He was exceedingly proud of his children, and loved most of all Betty, his wife of sixty-eight years, to whom he often crooned "Let Me Call You Sweetheart".

Russell was preceded in death by his parents, along with his brother Ralph. He is survived by his wife Elizabeth “Betty” Waterman of Atlanta, Georgia, his daughter Wendy Waterman of Atlanta, his sons Scott Waterman of Los Angeles, California (Brett Landenberger) and Gary Waterman of Atlanta (Mary Kay). He will be dearly missed by all.

A military service is planned for January 11, 2022 at the Georgia National Cemetery in Canton, Georgia. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Edgewood Children’s Ranch in Orlando, Florida or to the Honor Flight.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.hmpattersonOglethorpe.com for the Waterman family.