Frank L. Russ

Frank L. Russ, 87, of Golden, passed away peacefully at home in the company of his family, on March 2, 2016. Frank was born in Crested Butte, Colorado on March 27, 1928. He was the son of Joseph Russ and Amalia Somrak Russ.

Frank was the youngest of seven children, his father died when he was eight years old. Fortunately, his older siblings stepped up and helped maintain the household and raise Frank and his brother Joe, the youngest two of the children. Frank's early years were busy and active, but also full of hard work, shoveling many feet of snow, chores, and helping at various ranches during the summer. He worked for the D&RG railroad for three summers on Marshall Pass and was known as one of the best spikers on the line. He was also employed at the Verzuh grocery store delivering groceries by horse and buggy or sled. His favorite job was working at the Princess Theater changing the marquee twice a week, selecting music for the pre-movie entertainment and handling the bank night drawing details. This job enabled him to see many movies over the course of his "career" there.

He attended Crested Butte High School, played varsity basketball and participated in school plays and musicals. He also began building model airplanes and model ships. His first battleship, the USS North Carolina was whittled from a 2 x 4 and was 26 inches long. He had no kit or formal plans. His finest accomplishment was a model to scale of the Queen Mary. It was scaled 1/32 of an inch per foot and was perfect down to the portholes. Frank and the Queen Mary made the paper! He was interviewed and photographed and the story appeared in the Gunnison County Times.

Frank also actively enjoyed winter sports. How could he not –living in the snowy wonderland of Crested Butte? He enjoyed snow shoeing, ice skating, crust walking and skiing. There was a ski jump in front of his home that took the skiers halfway down the main street of town. In the summer, the ice cold rivers beckoned to swimmers and the mountains called to be climbed. He also loved playing baseball on the town team and later played for the Western State College team.

Frank was a good student and received a 4 year full tuition scholarship to Western State but decided to enlist in the US Marine Corps right out of high school in 1946. Four men of his family served during World War II. He was stationed in El Toro Air Force Base in San Diego, California. He learned much while a Marine and he was a sharpshooter. Frank came home to Crested Butte in 1949.

When Frank returned from his stint in the Marines, he and Eva Christoff married in 1950 and began their life's journey together. They were sweethearts and friends, they built a home , a family, a business together and were partners in every sense of the word .I don't know of many people that met their true love in the sand box and playground in first grade, but Frank claims to have known Eva was very special from those times.

Frank spent a year working in the coal mines partnering with Eva's father Anton. He decided after that experience he wanted to pursue an education and enrolled at Western State College and received his BA degree in accounting in just three years. After graduating in 1954, Frank and Eva headed to Denver and Frank continued his education at the University of Denver where he served on the Graduate Council.

Frank had many accounting and business opportunities before settling in as an auditor for the City and County of Denver where he worked for 27 years. He enjoyed his job with the city which afforded him the opportunity to really know and experience Denver and he worked with many wonderful colleagues, some of whom became lifelong friends. Simultaneously, he and Eva started and operated an accounting and tax firm that exists to this day, managed by his children. He and Eva had many adventures with their business. He truly loved working with his clients, many of them were with him for 50 plus years, and became good friends. He continued to be active in his business until his early eighties.

You didn't have to know Frank for long (maybe 5 minutes) to learn he was from Crested Butte, and to hear wonderful stories of growing up there and how important that connection was to him. He and Eva organized and hosted the CB town reunion in 1999 and over 500 people attended the various events. Everyone had a blast!

Yet, when he moved to Denver, he became a man of the city and truly loved living here. He loved the baseball team long before it became a major league team. And of course, he was a Denver Broncos fan from the very beginning, from the time the team wore vertical striped socks. The last football game he watched was the Broncos win Super Bowl 50 with his family.

Frank was a wonderful son, brother, husband, father, and grandfather, he was also a caring uncle, cousin and friend .He genuinely enjoyed being with his family, the in-laws and the outlaws! No matter how busy he was he always had a few moments to check in and loved nothing more than talking with folks over a cup of coffee.

Frank was preceded in death by his parents, his brothers; John, Rudy, Scotty, and Louie Somrak, and Joseph Russ, sister, Amelia Zeigler, and all their spouses. Also preceded by his son-in law, J. Reed Fink.

Frank is survived by his loving wife of 65 years, Eva; his son Thomas (Sheryl) of Thornton, and his daughter Tamara of Golden. Also, survived by grandchildren, Morgan and Justin Fink, and Emma Russ, as well as many other relatives and friends.

Frank and his family have had a blessed life, full of hard work, lots of fun and good adventures, and wonderful family and friends to share it with. For that we thank God.

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