Russell "Russ" William Newman

Russ was born and raised in Burien, Wa, an only child to John and Edith Newman, Swedish immigrants, who came to America in the early 1900's in search of a better life. With the exception of his time spent in the military during WWII, he resided in Burien his entire life. Russ attended Lake Burien Elementary and Highline High School, where he graduated in 1942. After being drafted into the Army Air Corp in 1943, but before his basic training, he met his future bride, Dorothea Malley at the Redondo Roller Rink.

In 1943 Russ completed his basic training in Fresno, California before attending basic gunnery school in Denver, Colorado and subsequently aerial gunnery school in Las Vegas, Nevada before being assigned to the air base in Souix City, Iowa for flight training in B17 bombers. He and his crew arrived in England in May, 1944, as part of the 8th Air Force and was quickly transferred to the 9th Air Force where they flew B26 bombers. He and his crew flew 22 successful missions. These missions during late summer and fall of 1944 were out of captured German airfields in Normandy, near Utah beach, and later in northern France from an airfield near San Quentin.

On the crew's 23rd mission on February 24, 1945 their plane was shot down over Mayan, Germany. Russ and his fellow crew members parachuted out of the crippled aircraft and spent the following 65 days under German capture as POW's. During this time they were forced to march from one camp to another as the German's were determined to prevent them from being liberated by the advancing allied ground forces. The POW camp conditions were extremely primitive, with very little food available and lack of any medical facilities. The available food to the POW's was mostly bread and soup, but fortunately the Red Cross was able to distribute food parcels as war conditions allowed. These food parcels were a blessing and kept many of the POW's from starvation and subsequently saved many lives. After a final forced march, they arrived in Moosburg, Germany, in mid April, 1945, and were liberated, shortly thereafter, by General George Patton's 3rd Army who overran the camp by knocking down the gates, on April 29, 1945. Russ' return to freedom, via France had him spending two months stateside, on furlough, during which time the war ended and so did his military career.

After the war, he returned to Seattle and married Dorothea on October 10, 1945. Making good use of the GI bill, he attended the University of Washington and graduated with a BA degree in Political Science. During his college years Russ and Dorothea supported two young children, Bill and Sigrid, and Russ held numerous jobs in and around Burien, including pumping gas at the Shell service station and setting pins at the local bowling alley. After graduation, Russell entered the insurance industry as an underwriter where his role included an affiliation with Lloyd's of London where he assisted with the insurance policy for the killer whale, Namu. He retired from the insurance industry as a VP at Hamel Insurance Agency in 1989.

After retirement, Russ and Dorothea enjoyed traveling throughout Europe, with a nostalgic trip for Russ back to Moosburg. They also had the opportunity to enjoy numerous cruises to the Panama Canal, Europe and Hawaii. Golf was another hobby Russ enjoyed after retirement and he became a regular player in a local Northwest Senior golf league. He was an avid gardener, loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

Russ was preceded in death by his son, William "Bill" in 1988. He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Dorothea, and his daughter, Sigrid, and her husband Ian Barkley. He also leaves behind five granddaughters, Ericka Newman, Caroline Waltmire and her husband Todd, Jennifer Newman & her partner Peter Larson, Melissa Nakashima and Lauren Nakashima. He also was blessed to have two great-grandsons, Ryder Waltmire and William Larson.

Russ will be remembered as a quiet, thoughtful man who believed in only talking when he had something interesting to say. A good listener with a keen sense of humor, he will be dearly missed by all. His family extends a very special thanks to the caring staff at the Burien Best Care Adult Family Home. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations sent to the Northwest Parkinson's Foundation at: www.nwpf.org.