Obituary of Donald Joseph Russell, M.D.
Donald Joseph Russell, MD, passed away peacefully at home on October 16, 2023.
Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, to parents James Joseph and Katherine Ford Russell, Don was the brother of James Edward Russell and Marita Russell Lauer. He attended St. Patrick Catholic School, followed by Central Catholic High School. The Christmas Story, released in 1985 and set in the 1940s and 1950s, affectionately captures and depicts what his childhood was like.
Don earned his undergraduate degree from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA, with a BS in Mathematics. He served three years in active duty as a First Lieutenant with the U.S. Marine Corps. Returning to Indiana, Don received a medical degree from Indiana University.
Don’s move to Dallas, Texas, in the early 1960s proved to be an eventful one. He was interning as a medical resident at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas in 1963 when President Kennedy and Governor John Connally were shot and treated at the hospital. Don treated Governor Connally and later treated Jack Ruby, the man who shot Lee Harvey Oswald. It was also in Dallas where Don met his wife, Mary Ann, who had moved there after graduating from The University of Texas. They truly complimented one another. While both were kind and fun, Don was quiet, private, and thoughtful, and Mary Ann was engaging, enthusiastic, and practical.
Thus perfectly matched, the couple married in 1966. After Don completed his residency in internal medicine at Parkland, they moved to Indianapolis for his neurology residency. As Don completed his residency, Mary Ann worked as a social worker and visited the Indy 500 track when Paul Newman came to town.
In 1969, Don and Mary Ann moved to and made their home in Houston. In the 1970s, they were blessed with three children, Carolyn, Patty, and John, who, like children tend to do, assumed and refused to relinquish an outsized presence in their lives.
Board Certified in Psychiatry and Neurology, Don was a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology and an Examiner for the American Board of Psychiatrists and Neurologists. Don worked as a neurologist in Houston until he retired in 2007. After retiring, Don volunteered as a doctor at the Interfaith Community Clinic and San Jose Clinic, took classes at Rice University, and enjoyed his grandchildren.
In addition to the brain, Don loved math, history, classical music, and opera. Throughout his life, Don enjoyed being active and outdoors, coaching his kids’ sports teams playing golf, sailing, and skiing. He thrived on the home front, constructing decks and walkways around the house and pool he designed and built. He spent his time away from work with his family, playing with the kids, grilling, reading, and completing the daily crossword.
He dearly loved his family, and we miss him very much. Don is survived by Mary Ann, his wife of fifty-seven years; daughter Carolyn Brock and her husband Glen; daughter Patricia Russell; son John Russell and his wife Shawna; and grandchildren John and Julia Brock, and Reagan and Ford Russell.
Vascular dementia and other neurological conditions struck Don’s fine mind and body and consumed the last years of his life. These challenges were particularly difficult and cruel, as he had spent his entire career treating and caring for patients afflicted by the same conditions. Blessed with a dry sense of humor and fun, Don made jokes but also experienced the frustration that the loss of memory, capacity, and a sense of self brings. We would like to thank his caregivers, particularly Claudia Tobias, who helped so much at the end of Don’s life.
A memorial service and funeral mass is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, the 15th of November, at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church, 1801 Sage Road in Houston. Immediately following, all are invited to greet the family during a reception at the Parish Life Center.
Dr. Russell will be interred at the National Cemetery in a private service with military honors.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Interfaith Community Clinic, 101 Pine Manor Drive, Oak Ridge North, TX, 77385.