Richard L. Russell

Richard L. Russell, age 60, passed away suddenly on Thursday, March 13th, 2025 at Carle Hospital in Urbana/Champaign, IL. Richard was born February 1st, 1965, in Bonfield, IL. to Ellsworth “Bud” and Stella (Butcher) Russell. He graduated from Herscher High School in 1983. After high school Richard took a job with the local Jewel in Bourbonnais, IL and that is where he met his beloved wife, Rhonda, where he was a stocker and she a cashier. They got engaged in April of 85 and married December 21st, 1985, at Kankakee Eastridge Church of the Nazarene where they attended for 18 years. After 10 years of marriage, they started a family, had 2 daughters (Michelle and Melinda). The family then joined Kankakee First Church of the Nazarene in Kankakee, IL. Richard took a job that entailed painting apartments and then he worked at Amoco 1996-1999 as a PC-Network Specialist. In between he took some IT (Information Technology) courses along with teaching himself IT skills. In 1999 he joined Valspar and was IT Systems Engineer, he remained there for 13 years. After Valspar, he joined Reader Link Distribution Services LLC and worked there 10 years starting as Windows Infrastructure Architect and worked his way up to Director of IT Infrastructure. In June of 2023 he became Director of IT Infrastructure at QT9 Software. Richard truly lived life to the fullest. He loved spending time with his family, especially his grandchildren. He loved being a papa. In his younger years Rich was on church softball league, bowling team, a bowling coach, and he loved to work on cars. Other hobbies included fishing and gaming. Richard enjoyed watching his daughters play sports and was their number one fan. Richard was a devoted family man and helped anyone in need. He brought fun and joy everywhere he went and when the opportunity presented itself, he would tease/play jokes. Richard is survived by his wife Rhonda, daughters Michelle (Patrick) Stiles of Bradley IL, Melinda (Jaime) Downs of Limestone IL; grandsons Arlo and Ellis; brothers Donald Russell of FL, Johnny (Cheryl) Russell of Kankakee, IL and sister Lana Russell of Wayne City, IL; sister-in-law Karen Russell of CO and many cousins, nieces, nephews, great nephews and nieces. He was preceded in death by his parents Ellsworth “Bud” and Stella (Butcher) Russell and brother David Russell. A Graveside Service will be held at Kankakee Memorial Gardens on Thursday, March 20th, 2025 at noon with Pastor Cindi Schimmelpfennig officiating. A Celebration Of Life to be held from 4-7pm at Kankakee First Church of the Nazarene, 1000 N Entrance Ave. Kankakee, IL 60901.