Russell Hamilton Fish

Russell was born December 26, 1922 in Denver, Colorado. He attended Denver Public Schools and the University of Colorado. In 1940 he left school to join the Army Air Corps where he became a fighter pilot instructor and test pilot. Upon release from the service he attended the University of California at Los Angeles where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. He was a member of Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity.

After graduation he settled in Austin, Texas where he was employed as a design engineer for the Tips Iron and Steel Company. He left engineering to become a reporter for the Texas Legislative Service rising to the position of Managing Partner, which he held until retirement in 1976.

During this time he also served as President of the Austin Publishing Company and served on the boards of directors of AERCO Products Company, the Featherlite Corporation, Mobil Color, Inc., Southwest Republic Corporation, the Texas Research League, television Channel 42, the Texas Association of Business, and as owner of an independent oil and gas exploration firm. He was listed in Who’s Who in the South and Southwest and Who’s Who in Business and Industry.

As a volunteer he was President of the Austin Aqua Festival, the Austin Environmental Council, the Austin United Fund, the Austin Service Club Council, the Austin Kiwanis Club, the Austin U.S.O., the Austin Wild Basin Park, the Capital Area Council of the Boy Scouts, the Travis County Grand Jury Association, and the University of Texas Nursing School Foundation.

He was Chairman of the Austin Salvation Army, the city of Austin Nuclear Task Force, the High School Anti-drug Program and the Texas Society of Professional Engineers Energy Committee. He served as Finance Chairman of the Austin Symphony Orchestra Society, the organizing committee for the restoration of 6th Street, and the Town Lake Beautification Committee. He was the co-creator and donor of the first Austin Hike and Bike Trail system. He was a Citizen Advisor to the United States Air Force and was King Brio of the Knights of the Symphony.

He served as Board Member of the Austin Community Council, the Heritage Society, the Pre-School Hearing Center, the Volunteer Bureau, the Advisory Committee to the Austin Police Department, Region 9 of the Boy Scouts of America, the Texas Grand Jury Association, the Travis Chapter of the Society of Professional Engineers, the Advisory Committee of the Texas Air Control Board and a member of other philanthropic and welfare agencies.

He was the recipient of the Austin Jaycees Outstanding Citizen Award, the Boy Scout Silver Beaver Award, the U.S.O. National Recognition Award, the YMCA Commendation Award, the American Red Cross Outstanding Volunteer Award and the Freedom Foundation Community Service Award.

In the late 1960’s with a Shelby Ford GT350 he followed the racing circuit and became the Southwest Division national point champion.

Upon retirement in 1978 he moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana and was married to Frances McInnis Anderson.

In Baton Rouge he was President of the Louisiana Legislative Service and has been a board member of General Paper Company, the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, the First Call for Help, Keep America Beautiful in Baton Rouge, the Federation of Churches and Synagogues, the L.S.U. Friends of the School of Music and has been Chairman of the St. James Episcopal Church Outreach Committee. He was a counselor of the Downtown Christian Outreach Center and a member of Pat’s Coats for Kids Program. He was a member of the Baton Rouge Foundation, the Baton Rouge Green, the Foundation for a Historical Louisiana, the Community Fund for the Arts, the Baton Rouge Country Club, the Baton Rouge City Club, the Sherwood Forest Country Club, the County Club of Louisiana, the Jeffersonian Club and the St. James Episcopal Church Vestry.

He is survived by his widow, Frances McInnis Fish; his brother, James Colbert Fish of Austin; his three sons: Russell Fish, III, Andrew Fish and his wife Paula, and John Fish and his wife Dana; three step daughters: Adrian Hensley, Allyson Kelly and Amy Fishburn; two step sons, Paul Scurlock Anderson and John Anderson; seventeen grandchildren and one great grandchild.

Funeral services will be graveside, at 9:30 a.m., Friday, June 25, 2010, at Austin Memorial Park Cemetery, 2800 Hancock Drive in Austin. Visitation will be Thursday, evening from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm at Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home, 3125 North Lamar Boulevard, Austin. Memorial contributions should be made to the Austin Parks and Recreation Department for placement of plants on the Hike and Bike trail between Pease Park and 29th Street.