Community leader Richard Russell dies
Nov. 17—Former Joplin Mayor Richard Russell had a long professional career, but friends and associates said he had an even longer record as a community volunteer and booster.
Russell, 82, of Joplin, died Sunday at Freeman West Hospital after a sudden illness.
A Joplin native, Russell worked for the former Empire District Electric Co. for 32 years before retiring as manager of customer service. He then took the position of executive director at the Area Agency on Aging. He also worked as a business development agent for the Great American Title Co. and at Parker Mortuary.
From membership in the Joplin Shrine Club to volunteering with the American Red Cross and serving on the Sisters of Mercy Housing Board, the list of organizations that Russell had been involved in is extensive.
He served on the Joplin City Council from 1996 until 2008 and was mayor from 2002-2004. After that, he participated as a volunteer on city boards and committees by council appointment.
"We don't get many community leaders like that," said Russell's longtime friend, real estate agent Gary Stubblefield of Carl Junction. "He never retired. The city would call, and he would serve. He was very, very active."
Bob Harrington, another friend and a former fellow member of the council, said Joplin's downtown with its tree-lined Main Street and updated sidewalks and street lights are largely the result of Russell.
"We served on the selection committee that selected Mark Rohr as our city manager in 2004. Richard was very instrumental in outlining what the City Council expected Mark to do, primarily about the revitalization of downtown Joplin," Harrington said. "He was always thinking of new ideas and ways that the city could take better care of its citizens and to provide the greatest service to them that the city could afford."
Former council member and Mayor Melodee Colbert-Kean and current council member and former Mayor Phil Stinnett, another Russell friend, both said Russell mentored them when voters sent them to City Hall.
"He helped me and gave me direction on what to look for to make decisions," Colbert-Kean said. "He was very knowledgeable."
Stinnett served as mayor pro tem when Russell was mayor.
"He provided a learning experience for me," Stinnett said. Stinnett also credited Russell with resurrecting membership in American Legion Post 13, which had waned as World War I and World War II veterans died. Down to a dozen or so active members just a few years ago, the local roll now exceeds 200.
"From a community standpoint, you could not ask for an individual who gave more to his community," Stinnett said.
Russell was a Navy veteran who served in the U.S. Naval Reserves for 30 years.
Harrington said Russell played the bugle and was active with the American Legion Drum and Bugle Corps for many years, traveling to competitions all over the country and helping it to win many awards.
"As an accomplished bugler, he played taps at hundreds of veterans' funerals over the years," Harrington said.
"Later, Richard became the adjutant of Post 13. In this position, he was responsible for the majority of the clerical and record-keeping functions of the post. One of his primary duties was to keep track of the post membership ensuring the members paid their dues, received their membership cards and assisted them in any way he could in dealing with the national American Legion organization or the Veterans Administration."
Services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Central City Christian Church.
Burial will follow in Osborne Memorial Cemetery with full military honors.
The family will receive friends from 6 to 7 p.m. Friday at Parker Mortuary.
