Robert P. Russell, Jr.

Preceded in death by his parents, Robert Patrick Russell and Miriam Stephan Russell.

Bob is survived by his sisters, Virginia Russell and Stephanie Russell (Alan Lindquist), his loving partner Diane Schroepfer, and a large extended family and circle of friends throughout the United States.

Bob grew up in the Chicago area. He attended Loyola Academy and New Trier High School. He got his B.A. degree in English at Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, an M.A. in Biogeography at the University of Arizona, and also did additional graduate work in Restoration Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

At the age of six, Bob was introduced to birdwatching and the wonders of the natural world. He became a passionate environmentalist and was a gifted birder, with a life list of 1200+ species. He served on the Records Committee for the Minnesota Ornithologist’s Union and was the No.1 most active contributor to the recently-completed Minnesota Breeding Bird Atlas. From 2001-2014, Bob served on the Saint John’s Outdoor University Advisory Council lending his expertise to the stewardship of the 2,944 acre Arboretum at Saint John’s Abbey in Stearns County, MN.

Bob retired in 2015, ending a 34-year career with the Federal government. He worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the last 17 years of his career as a Wetland Bird Biologist.

Before working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bob helped save the Meadowlands with the Ecological Services Field Office in New Jersey; worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in New Orleans; the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the Wisconsin Department of Corrections; the Defense Mapping Agency in Washington, DC; Everglades National Park in Florida; and Gulf Islands National Seashore in Mississippi. His most exotic job was as a warden for the Cape Clear Bird Observatory off the southwest coast of Ireland.

Bob was a kind, sweet, and gentle man with a lovely sense of humor and the wonderful ability to see strangers as potential friends. He will be deeply missed.

A funeral mass will be held on Friday, July 26, at Saint Pascal Baylon, 1757 Conway Street, Saint Paul, at 10:30 a.m. with a visitation beginning at 9:00 a.m. Private interment at Calvary Cemetery in Evanston, Illinois.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to: Outdoor University, Saint John’s University, Collegeville, MN. You may send checks to Saint John's Outdoor University, P.O. Box 3000, Collegeville, MN 56321; please indicate that it is in memory of “Robert P. Russell” and put “Stewardship of the Arboretum” on the check.