Russell Webster Wood, Jr. departed this earth on August 6, 2012. He was 91. He is survived by his brother Everett Rider Wood ; daughter Jane Melinda (Wood) Moore and son-in-law Larry; granddaughter Tara LaRae (Moore) Baker and her husband Alan ; great-grandchildren Amelia, Sheridan, Levi, and Lyle; nieces Laurie (Roop) Lyons, Cindy Roop, Bobbi Roop, Peggy (Roop) Cortez, and Kelly (Wood) Ford; nephews Greg Wood and Barry Wood . Russ was preceded in death by his mother Emma Maude (Rider) Wood in 1964 and his father Russell Webster Wood, Sr in 1973. His wife Barbara Ann (Bruehne) Wood passed away in 1994, niece Kim Wood in 1999, and sister Virginia Mae (Wood) Roop in 2008. Russ was the eldest of 3 and was born a 4th generation Coloradoan in Denver on July 20, 1921. He attended Ashland Elementary, Skinner Junior High, and was a member of the North High Class of 1939.
Russ completed Opportunity School for electrical power and radio repair, and received his ham radio license in 1938 (W9BML). He began work for the radio department of Auto Equipment Colorado in 1940 for 40 cents an hour. On August 3, 1942, Russell was drafted into the United States Army and was stationed at Fort Terry in Plum Island, NY, where he served in the 242 Coast Artillery under the National Guard. Russell was sent to Ft Monroe, Virginia for radar training coursework soon after arriving at Fort Terry. An excellent student, Russ then was asked to teach the same radar coursework in Virginia until August 1, 1943. Russ was granted a delay in his transfer back to Long Island Sound in order to marry Barbara Ann (Bruehne) Wood in Denver on August 7, 1943.
Harbor Defense Long Island Sound (HDLIS) was Russell’s next point of service in the US Army. He worked in an MIT field station there to set up radar surveillance of the entire sound from Prospect Hill. Russell also built a transponder at a MIT radiation lab located at HDLIS. Before Honorable Discharge with a Commendation Ribbon on February 4, 1946, Russell had attained Master Sergeant status with the United States Army. Russell returned to Denver in early 1946, and he and wife Barbara celebrated the arrival of daughter Jane later that year. Soon thereafter, Russell and Barbara purchased 2 plots of land near Pine, CO where Russell began building “Woody’s Hideout” – a mountain cabin. Russell returned to his prior employment at Auto Equipment in 1946, which thereafter changed names to McCollum Law Corporation. Russell became a Field Service Manager and trained technicians in Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, and West Texas for service of Westinghouse appliances and Zenith electronics until company bankruptcy in 1977. Russell taught TV repair and Electronics at Community College of Denver for 3 years, and founded Keystone Electronics, where he serviced televisions out of his home. In 1981, he took a full-time position with Joseph Strauss, a company that later became Zenith Data System. He retired with Zenith in March of 1987.
Wife Barbara became ill in the early 1990s, and Russell looked after her during her last days in Hospice care at their Denver home. Following wife Barbara’s death in August of 1994, Russ kept up with his active lifestyle, alternating his time in the summers between his mountain cabin and Denver home. An avid computer-user, Russell became very skilled in utilizing modern technology. Always having an inquisitive mind and an independent spirit, Russell impressed others with his desire for keeping up with modern technical advances and his independent lifestyle. Russell lived alone until his hospitalization on August 4, 2012. He died in his sleep at Exempla Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge, Colorado the morning of August 6, 2012. Donations can be made to The Colorado Humane Society & SPCA.
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