The Story of Russ and Donna

Okay, here's more than you ever wanted to know about Russ and Donna. 

We met when we were both working at U.S. National Bank, Campus Branch, in Eugene, Oregon.  Russ was a loan officer and Donna was the note teller (what you might call a commercial teller today).  Donna didn't like Russ.  Donna told her friends, "I pity his poor wife.  I would hate to be married to that man."

Russ was often late to work.  On the Tuesday after Memorial day in 1973, he was late again.  The tellers (especially Donna) were making snide remarks and grumbling about officers having special privileges.  Donna learned that day that words should always be flavored with honey as you never know when you may have to eat them.

Just before the bank opened, the bank manager asked all the employees to gather in the lobby.  With tears in his eyes he told us that Russ's wife had died that morning.  She had an undiagnosed congenital heart problem that would eventually claim 4 of the 5 siblings in her family. 

Russ was devastated.  He had two baby boys, aged 3 months and 20 months.  When he brought them into the bank several days later, Donna fell in love...not with Russ but with those babies.  Donna was a single mom with a 5 year old daughter and a 3 year old son.  As Russ returned to work, Donna always included an extra bit of leftovers in her lunch.  Russ rarely brought lunch and had begun to loose weight, and he was grateful for the lunch.  As Russ and Donna talked, they found they had much in common with their backgrounds and beliefs.  Donna invited Russ to church and that was their first date.



Our wedding, July 21, 1973, Chapel of the Bells,
Reno, NV.  We were married by Rev. Huckleberry - REALLY!



In just a matter of months, Russ proposed.  Before he did that, they both went to visit his first wife's family to ask their blessing.  It was freely given.  With Russ's babes needing a mom and Donna's youngsters needing a dad, there seemed to be no reason to delay and they were married in Reno on July 21, 1973.  Donna's son turned four years old on July 19th...I still sometimes get the dates mixed up!

Russ and the kids, circa 1974.  Love the bandaids!!

Our life has not been trouble free.  There were times when we were frustrated and wondered if we had made a  mistake.  But with our faith in God and a lot of hard work, we made it through.  Together we raised the children, each adopting the other's kids, and today we are the grandparents of eight wonderful grandchildren.  We still have our faith and we are happier than we have ever been.

After a career in banking ranging from teller to branch manager to compliance officer, Donna retired in 1997 due to medical problems.  Russ went from banker to corporate controller to church business administrator and back to corporate controller before taking early retirement in 2009.  That early retirement was involuntary, a fatality of the economy.

But now that we are both retired, we hope to live our dreams.  We have always loved to travel and have done so as often as possible.  We have almost always had an RV of some type or another.  When we sold our class A several years back, we thought we were done with RVs.  But the wanderlust and the desire to have our own accommodations just would not go away.  In September 2010, we visited the Lazy Daze factory in Montclair, CA and ordered a new 31' motor home.  We are currently waiting for it to be completed.  Then the adventure will REALLY begin.
UPDATE:  We picked up the new Lazy Daze, nicknamed "Therapy" on February 24, 2011.  Our adventure has begun and we are LOVING it!!