Russell was born on November 13, 1950 in Miami, Florida. Russell was the youngest of three children. He had two older sisters, Andrea and Sylvia. His parents were Lennard and Anna. Lennard worked in the Civilian Conservations Corps when he was young; Anna was very proud of the fact that she was a "Daughter of the American Revolution", meaning that she could trace her relatives back to the time of the American Revolution. Lennard's parents were born in Sweden but immigrated to Massachusetts and later moved to South Florida. Anna was from New Jersey.
Russell met Pam in high school at a school dance after a football game. They dated for four years and were married on March 21, 1970, at the ages of 19 and 20. After a honeymoon in Hawaii, they moved to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, in order to help Russell's parents renovate a turn of the century hotel. After four years in Arkansas, they moved back to Miami where Russell became a firefighter with the City of Miami.
Russell was extremely proud of his children, Russell II and Diana, and anyone who knew him knew what his children were up to. While Russell II was young, Russell would spend hours with him practicing baseball. Diana and Russell would spend time around the house wrestling and kidding with each other.
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