Nicholas Joseph Russo

On June 10, 2024 Nicholas Joseph Russo passed away. He is the beloved husband of Carla Simons Russo; devoted father of Josephine Angela (4) and Olivia Jean (7); dear brother of Giuliana Marie Russo, and stepsister Elizabeth (Nicholas) Scalzo, and stepbrother Rosario Ciulla; loving son of Annamaria Rita Altier and Joseph Edward (Suzanne) Russo; cherished grandson of Mildred Russo, loving son-in-law of Carla Barkley, and Trish and Bob Simons; adored nephew of Itilde Altier, Paul (Karen) Russo, Linda Russo (Steve Larson), Patricia (Harry) Mason, Carol (Bill) Cody; nephew-in-law of Teresa (Donald) McLaughlin, Greg Barkley (Jill Mortensen), Barbara (Dan) Maynard, and Dan (Kim) Barkley; beloved cousin of Claire Fortin, Jake Fortin, Jaimie Lockhart, Megan Mason, Christina Schaub, Allison Fortin, and Erica Mason.

Nick described himself as a general geek with interest in all things networking. He was in constant pursuit of new knowledge and mastered anything he put his mind to: from technologies such as Machine Learning, to Chinese and Chess. He was an avid reader, and often listened to audio books while taking walks through his neighborhood.

When he wasn’t acquiring new knowledge or building training materials to share his expertise with others, he enjoyed Pokémon battles and playing video games with his beloved daughters. He set aside time each week for one-on-one lunch dates with his girls; and made-up silly stories to tell them at bedtime.

Nick shared his love of networking at a number of companies and the United States Marine Corps (USMC). He was Principal Architect at Cisco Systems, a Network Engineer at Netorian LLC (US Army), a Systems Engineer at L3Harris, and Battalion Communications Officer with the USMC. He served as Battalion Commander (3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines) In Afghanistan supporting Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), and was awarded The Navy Commendation Medal for outstanding service, and The Lieutenant Colonel Kevin M. Shea Memorial Unit Award for commanding the USMC's "Best Communications Unit" in 2011. He noted with pride that the “Best USMC Communications Unit”, really meant the “Best Communicators in the world.”

Nick graduated class of 2008 from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. He created and published many educational books and podcasts for aspiring network engineers. Nick’s passion for learning and sharing is demonstrated in his work, some of which can be found here: https://njrusmc.net/about/about.html

Relatives and friends are invited to gather at Schimunek Funeral Home of Bel Air Inc., 610 W. MacPhail Rd. Bel Air, MD 21014 on Monday, June 17, 2024 from 1:00 PM- 3:00 PM, where a Celebration of Life will be held at 3:00 PM. Interment private.

Relatives and friends are also invited to gather at Paul W. Harris Funeral Home Inc., 570 Kings Highway South, Rochester, NY 14617, on Saturday, June 22, 2024 from 3:00 PM-6:00 PM where a Celebration of Life will be held at 6:00 PM.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Wounded Warrior Project (https://support.woundedwarriorproject.org/) or The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (https://give.bcrf.org/), two organizations that were important to Nick.