We woke up early Monday morning, June 6th, to take Matt to the airport for a business trip. It was about 5 a.m. and as we were getting into the car Matt got a frantic call from his mom. Telling us that she had found Russ in the hot tub and that he had passed away, and asking if we could come over and help her. By the time we got there the police were there investigating the scene. That took a long time. We all sat in the house for a couple hours while they did this, wondering what had happened. Russ had been working hard all week long helping people with their sprinklers. He was tired and sore, but healthy and happy. The night before him and Lynn had talked about Stake Conference, talked about their kids and grand kids, and then Russ had given Lynn a back rub around 10pm and she had fallen asleep. The next morning Lynn woke up early to get ready for work and after she got out of the shower she noticed his bathrobe was gone so she figured he was out in the hot tub. He'd mentioned he was sore from working all week. When she went outside she found he had passed away. We were unsure of exactly what happened. After doing an autopsy though they ruled out a heart attack or stroke, and said he simply must have stayed in too long, passed out from the heat and drowned. It was obviously very unexpected and shocking! I was a mess! We had just spent the previous Sunday with him. We spent hours walking around the cemetery. We had a nice dinner together. I have videos of him tickling the kids and playing with them. And I was just so sad that he was gone, and I missed him from the very moment I found out! After Russ passed away we were blessed to have people call, text, and email their condolences and a major theme of them all was how blessed everyone felt to have known Russ! I definitely feel blessed to have had the special role of "Daughter-in-law"! Being a daughter in law of Russ's meant so many things! It meant I always had a handy man! He was always willing to help and often showed up without being asked because he recognized something that needed to be fixed while he was over for family dinner or something. I remember a time when he came over to help Chase fix a bike. Chase came in a while later asking if he had to stay out there. He said they'd been done with his bike for over an hour but started fixing another, and then another. I told him as long as Russ was out there he should be too :) They were out there all day, and every bike in our garage got fixed that day! Being Russ's daughter in law meant I always had someone to talk too! Russ was a talker. I often found my mind wandering wondering where he was headed with a certain conversation and when it would end, but he genuinely loved talking to anyone who would listen to him, and I was blessed by that many times! Being his daughter in law meant I had a huge fan! Russ was my biggest fan! I didn't leave a family dinner without him walking me out to the car and telling me how "Neat" I was, how I was just such a "Neat Mom", and I had such "Neat kids" (He loved the word "Neat"!) He sure had a way of making me feel like a million bucks! I have the hardest time with death! I have faith in the plan of salvation, and I believe that I will see them again someday but that only comforts me a little. Because i just get so sad about not seeing them right here, right now. About having Christmas, birthdays, Halloween, etc and not sharing it with them. Matt and I went to the Temple right before Matt's Dad's viewing and we were doing Sealings and all of the sudden the Sealer stopped. He said "I can't see through the veil, but I can feel through the veil, and there are people from the other side here with us right now." I'm sure we've all heard something similar to that before, but I instantly thought of Russ and felt the peace of the Lord. I realized that although I might have to wait a while to see Russ again he wasn't gone. He was still with us. He will continue to be my biggest fan, will continue to help me and Matt and the kids in any way he can. I finally felt that comfort from the plan of salvation. What a blessing that is! We sure loved our Papa! Death always makes you appreciate life! It makes you cherish the moments you've had with someone, and makes you wonder what kind of person you are, what kind of person you're becoming, and what kind of legacy you're leaving behind! Russ left behind a legacy of love and service, and we, along with all who knew him feel very blessed to have known him!! And we are especially grateful to have been able to call him Papa!
