Russell L. Marquart

Russell (Russ) Marquart of Elma and East Aurora was born on July 25, 1956 and passed April 20, 2022. He was the son of Clayton and Betty (nee Lexo) Marquart and was the youngest of the three boys, Donald (deceased) and Bruce. Russ graduated East Aurora High School in the class 1974. He was a member of the champion Blue Bomber swimming teams and participated in many musical and Junior play productions, which he loved. He graduated from Northwood Institute, Midland, Michigan.

Russ’s passion in life was his love of Agricultural Fairs and who he fondly called “Fair people”. Russ was a mentor to hundreds of people who shared his enthusiasm for Fairs, whether they were exhibitors, starting up a new 4H club, working in a small, county fair, a state fair or were performing musicians, celebrities or visiting national politicians. Russ helped them all with kindness, compassion, and a strict regime of hard work, performance and success.

Russ worked at various times in his life for the New York State Fair, the Anderson County Fair in South Carolina, and the NYSAAF, but his real commitment was to the Erie County Fair sponsored by the Erie County Agricultural Society. It was consistently one of the top 10 Fairs in the United States with frequently over a million people attending. Both sides of his family, Lexo's and Marquart’s were active and had a legacy of service to the Erie County Fair, where he retired after close to 40 years of service

Russ is survived by his brother, Bruce and niece Chloe Louise Marquart and many cousins from the Lexo and Marquart family. A memorial reception will be held at 10:00 am, Saturday, May 21 at the Erie County Fairgrounds Ag-Grange Building.

Flowers gratefully declined, donations can be made to the East Aurora Boys and Girl’s Club Camp Ska-No-Ka-San 24 Paine East Aurora, NY 14052