Russell Edward Doonan

Russell Edward Doonan was born May 9, 1927 in Joliet, Illinois to Russell Franklin Doonan and his wife Clara. Raised with his 6 siblings during the Great Depression Russell showed significant aptitude in school. Math, reading and the sciences were interesting to Russell, and his photographic memory helped him to excel at learning. In 1944 Russell joined his older siblings in the war effort by enlisting at 17 years of age into the US Navy after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Near the end of training, his superior officer asked “Hey! Do you know how to skin a cat?” Out of fear and not knowing what he meant Russell shouted “Yes Sir!” The superior then pointed and said loudly “Well get up there then!” Russell followed orders and climbed up onto the bulldozer, having never been on one, and started pulling levers as he taught himself how to operate the Cat Skinner. Russell became a Navy Seabee equipment and dozer operator and landed with the troops in Okinawa, Japan. At the end of World War II and upon his return to the mainland Russell suffered, as most did, from his experiences of the war. He bought a surplus army Harley Davidson and rode it around the country for a year and a half with a knapsack and navy beans as he slept under the stars. Then he spent a period of time in Oregon as a lumberjack, then traveled to San Diego with the family. Russell had an adventurous spirit in his youth; a friend once said to Russell, “remember the time you rode that old Harley off the end of the pier in San Diego and swam to shore as it sank to the bottom.” Russell bought a new motorcycle to replace the old one. At 4 years old Russell experienced a theophany in which Christ appeared in living flesh before him and simply said to the 4 year old “Preach for Me.” Russell did not understand the meaning of his childhood experience until he felt the religious calling after the war and entered Moody Bible Institute in Chicago in 1947. There he met Jean Berry, his wife to be and mother of his 4 children. They married, teamed up and ran the Rescue Mission in Dubuque, Iowa before moving to Greenville, Mississippi, Jean’s home town, and Jackson, Mississippi where Russell furthered his education at Belhaven College. Russell and Jean moved from Mississippi to Tennessee where they formed a dynamic duo with Russell preaching and Jean playing the organ and leading the hymns in two Cumberland Presbyterian churches. While in Tennessee Russell and Jean's son Stephen and daughter Susan were born. In 1954 Russell received a call from his friend Roy LeTourneau asking if he would consider joining a mission into the Peruvian jungle. Russell excitedly accepted and off into the jungles they went with their 2 young children for a once in a lifetime adventure. While working the project in Peru, Russell's son Joel was born in the country’s capital, Lima. Upon completing a 5 year term in the jungle in 1960, Russell moved the family to Colorado where they bought a small farm in Florence. There, son David was born and only 8 months old when Russell got another call from Roy asking if he would come back to Peru as the head of the project, so off again into the Amazon rainforest of Peru the family went for 5 more years of adventures. In 1966 Russell moved the family back to the states and lived for periods in Mississippi, Colorado and Washington before settling in Kilgore, Texas just 10 miles from Longview where the LeTourneau plant and college were located. Russell worked for LeTourneau until 1973 and moved with Jean and David to Florida for a year to work as salesman of heavy equipment before returning in 1974 to Kilgore and purchasing a schoolhouse to fulfill Jeans dream of having a family pottery. The whole family was together in that adventure briefly before a divorce, at which time Russell moved to Pueblo where he settled and bought a home. It was 1975 and Russell fell back on his operator engineer’s license and vocation and began building roads in Colorado. He re-met his high school sweetheart and married Patricia Ann for a brief time until their divorce in 1978. Russell then focused on his work building roads during the week and living in his sixteen-foot travel trailer on the job sites, followed by time at home in Pueblo and gardening on the weekends. During this time he took on the care of his mother in her decline and was offered a job in Denver to head up the national Labor Education Advancement Program (LEAP). Russell built up and managed the project training many otherwise troubled and lost youth in developing vocational skills and finding jobs. He worked as the head of the program until it was cut in the late 1980's due to Reaganomics. After the LEAP program closed Russell went back to what he knew so well as an operator-engineer and was hired to manage keeping the roads open for gold mines in the Colorado mountains until his retirement. Russell was 15 years old in Chicago when he met Jane Baumhardt Luett, and in 1987 she reentered his life and they were married in 1988. Russell enjoyed reading and writing, listening to classical music, riding his Harley motorcycles and was very involved with community improvements. He taught adult Sunday school classes, headed up community safety watch programs and the anti-graffiti program in Pueblo. He was Santa on a Harley at Christmas time in Pueblo. Russell was always analyzing his surroundings and circumstances and looking for ways to improve them. In October of 2015, after many years together, Russell and Janie were separated due to declining health issues and each moved to be with their children, as per their agreement years earlier. Jane is in Iowa near her children and Russell was moved to Austin to be near his children. After a brief battle with aggressive cancer Russell passed away near midnight on August 27, 2016 in the care of Austin Hospice and with his son David at his side. Russell was a son, brother, father, grandfather, philosopher and true patriot. He will be dearly missed. Russell was preceded in death by his parents Russell Franklin & Clara I. Doonan, first wife Jean Berry Doonan, brother Bill Doonan and sister Ruth Samson. He leaves behind wife Jane Doonan, children Stephen Doonan, Susan Doonan, Joel Doonan and his wife Tria Shafer, and David Doonan, grandchildren Eden Doonan, Emily and RJ Paulsen, and Mitch Hackney. Also surviving Russell are brother Jim Doonan, sister Doris Norwood, brother Mike O'Doonan, sister Mary Trute and their spouses along with many nephews and nieces and their children and grandchildren. A graveside service for Russell will be Saturday, September 17, at 11:00 am @ Imperial Memorial Gardens.