Isaac Daw Russell of West Tisbury died Feb. 27 at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, just three months after the death of his beloved wife, Gertrude Richards Russell.
Born in New York City on Jan. 7, 1933, Isaac was the first-born child of Henry E. Russell and Faye Rattenbury Russell of Tenafly, N.J. and the adored big brother to Clare, Dorsa, Gillian and Felicity.
While attending Kent School in Kent, Conn. Isaac was the editor in chief of the school newspaper and rowed for the crew that traveled to London for the Henley Royal Regatta. He came home with a first-place medal and a lifetime love of the sport.
In 1954 he met the love of his life, Trudy, at a doubles tennis game that their younger sisters had arranged. After graduating with a bachelor of arts degree from Yale University, Isaac served in the U.S. Army for two years, stationed in the Panama Canal. When he returned in 1956, he and Trudy married and moved to Cambridge, where he attended Harvard Law School. He liked to mention that Ruth Bader Ginsburg was on the Harvard Law Review with him, but he also acknowledged with humility that she was much smarter than he.
In 1959, he joined the law firm of Day, Berry, and Howard in Hartford, Conn. and, together with Trudy, raised three children and several cats and dogs. He was a loving and attentive father who read stories aloud most evenings and, following church on Sundays, led the family on hikes at the reservoir or ice skating on local ponds.
He also gave back to others, visiting the elderly in nursing homes, riding bikes with the visually impaired and working tirelessly for affordable housing in Hartford, Johannesburg, South Africa and here on the Vineyard.
After years trying to persuade his children to take the U.S. Foreign Service exam, he decided to take it himself — and passed. At the age of 56 he retired from the law firm and proudly became a “junior officer in training” in the foreign service. He was soon posted to Zimbabwe as a cultural affairs officer in the U.S. Information Agency, followed by postings to the Ivory Coast and Ethiopia.
After aging out of the foreign service at age 65, he taught constitutional law at Moi University in Eldoret, Kenya before moving permanently to West Tisbury.
Isaac’s connection to Martha’s Vineyard began in the 1940s in Oak Bluffs and deepened at his parents’ camp on Deep Bottom Cove in West Tisbury. The Russell family enjoyed many summers there, without heat, running water, or electricity, often sailing or paddling across Tisbury Great Pond and riding the waves at South Beach.
Isaac and Trudy moved to West Tisbury in 1998 and their house became the welcoming nexus for family gatherings, large and small. Ike’s booming “Hellos!” welcomed all who came in the door. His family will miss his warm embrace and infectious smile.
He was a man of deep intelligence and myriad talents. He once stated in a quiet moment, however, that what he most wanted was “to be a good person.” And that he was. Eternally optimistic, kind, cheerful, funny and loving, he found joy wherever he was and spread it generously.
Isaac believed that marrying Trudy was the best thing he ever did, and he was a devoted, loving husband for 68 years. His family likes to think of them reunited once again among the stars.
A service will be held May 18 at Grace Episcopal Church in Vineyard Haven at 12 p.m., followed by interment at the West Tisbury cemetery. A reception will follow at 41 Scotchman’s Lane, West Tisbury.
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