Message: We are honored to provide this Book of Memories to the family.

Message: Hello, my name is Brad Repinski, I grew up with Tom, Mike & Mary Pat on Lancaster Avenue, they tell me that I am the third son. I am privileged to honor Russ today & celebrate his life. Russell Parsons was born on December 19th, 1926 on the south side of Milwaukee, often called the Polish side of town. At a very young age he enjoyed the outdoors. He would hang out with his friend leaving the house to be outdoors gathering car gas tanks from the junk yard, assembling into a raft & floating down the Menomonee River. They would catch fish, gather potatoes & apples & cook on a fire. When he would come home at night his mother could smell the smoke & knew he was outside all day. He told me the story of going fishing when he was a boy, Russ would go fishing with a can of worms and a cane pole. He would give the farmer a Nickle to rent the boat and then he walked down to the shore to get the boat. When he turned over the boat there were snakes! He did not like snakes. Russ grew up & joined the Army & served during World War II in the South Pacific. Just this last New Year’s Eve he had a sentimental moment cooking the same dinner he had 70 years ago. He cooked Spam, Sardines & Tapioca Pudding. He was very proud of his time in the Army & recently participated in the Stars & Stripes Honor Flight. This is a when they go to Washington DC & tour the city for the day. He also enjoyed Tailgating at Miller Park for the Movie Premiere of “Field of Honor: A Salute to the Greatest Generation." He met the love of his life, Arlene at the IRS & was married on September 23rd, 1950. They went to a cabin for their honeymoon. There are plenty of pictures of the newlyweds & some were pictures of them fishing… of course. They built their home on Lancaster Ave in 1957; it was the 2nd house on the street. Russ told me that the area was farmland & they had to park on Grantosa & walk to the house while they were completing the streets. He had happy memories of the neighborhood & he loved his home. Neighbors like Huauser, Thors, Repinski, Knueppel, Stieb, Boyce, Arachie, Irv Gebhart, Dennis & Current. Russ was so proud of his children & was dedicated to his family; he was able to provide 12 years of Catholic Education at Corpus Christi & Pius. He went to Church every Sunday, a spiritual God loving person. He instilled strong ethics & was a Basketball coach. He sacrificed & worked 2 jobs sometimes to make ends meet to provide for the children. He was the “Best Father Ever”. Tom is so grateful to him, helping out with his love for flying. Tom introduced him to Mr. Mauer & he helped to get his Flying, Instrument & Commercial Pilot License. Tom was able to give Flying Lessons within 8 months. Russ worked for the City of Milwaukee as a Systems Analyst for 35 years. Back then the computers were as big as a house. He was on the frontier of the Tech Era, writing software using FORTRAN & Cobol languages. They used computer key punch cards to write programs that would gather data & make reports. He had a very successful career & even had his own business doing Tax Returns. Russ & Arlene travelled the world to places like Egypt, Spain, Turkey, Italy, Acapulco, & did an Alaska Cruise. ½ the time he had no clue where Arlene was taking him. He said he would drive to the airport & Arlene would give him the ticket & say we are going to……. & get on the plane. He enjoined shopping & was a Bargain Hunter clipping coupons & saving money. He enjoyed Family Dinners; He had a wonderful appetite for homemade food. He enjoyed the theater, getting dressed up to go with Mary his special friend to the Fireside Playhouse, Papst & Marcus Theater. He has taught us so many of life lessons, A true example of a loving father, grandfather, friend & husband. He was the Proud grandpa of Holly, Adam, Lauren, Heather, Courtney, & Vinny. Spending time with them, swim parties in the pool, going to Football, Baseball games & Wrestling matches. Taking the dogs to get groomed. Russ carefully picked out the best birthday cards with beautiful & loving messages inside. He always signed the cards "with love always". A man for ALL Seasons – Outdoors = Hunting, Fishing, Trap Shooting & his Dogs – Sparky, Rusty, Specks, Mick & Winnie. Now, I need everyone to close their eyes & take a deep breath in & out, once again. Now think of Russ outdoors. Think of the time you were with him, he was very social & taught me many things – Quiet Wisdom, Did not take life for granted, grateful for each & every day. Fishing – Lake Fishing – River Fishing – Great Lake Fishing with Irv, Canada Fishing- Ice Fishing just this last winter Mike and Russ spent ALL Day on Ice, Green Bay Fishing with Mike – He truly enjoyed catching those Walleyes. Hunting – Duck Hunting with Jim in North Dakota, Moose Hunting – Fly-in Hunting in Canada & 50 years of Deer Hunting up North. Pheasant Hunting with the gang in South Dakota, There is the story of Calvin getting knocked over by a buck and losing his gun in it’s rack. Honest and Ethical = Shooting hours, and Limits. He had the good stuff, Fishing tackle & Fishing Poles for each type of venue, he had maps of all the lakes & enjoyed the electronics, Lakes-Links.com, Fishing Videos, boats. He had guns each type of game he chased after. He was a member of WI Wildlife Federation, Ducks Unlimited, White Tails Unlimited, National Turkey Federation, Menomonee Falls Rod & Gun Club & Boxhorn – he enjoyed Trap Shooting. Pewaukee Lake Sportsman Club – He enjoyed the Kids Ice Fishing Jamboree. He loved to train dogs & was an active member of the West Allis Springer Spaniel Club. Mick was a Grand Champion Field Trial Dog. Now Russ did all these thing & was very active, he got the best care from Melissa at the IRC Rehab Clinic. He did all his stretches & exercises to be loose & nimble, In & Out of the Boat, In & Out of the Mule, Walking the fields, setting up decoys & deer hunting. There are plenty of stories fun, once and a life experiences. I can even say a “miracle” with Russ. We decided to fish Tichigan River for bluegills. We launched boat on the north end of the River and motored all the way down to the lake. It is a 40 minute run. We fished from 1 till about dark and we were catching fish and Russ kept insisting that we stay for 5 more minutes. Well it got dark and as we headed back it got really dark to the point we could not find the river entrance in the reeds. Russ call back to me “hey, there is a light” so I turned the boat toward the light and there was a duck hunter stuck on a mud flat calling out for HELP! I got the push pool out and moved over to the 16 year old kid that was scared he would have needed to spend the night in the swamp. So he jumped in the boat, we tied his duck skiff to the boat. There were no cellphones or GPS back then so it was the knowledge of the Kid that navigated us back to the dock. He thanked us for getting him unstuck and we thanked him for getting us up the river to the dock. I want to close with a Reading / Paraphrase from the Gospel according to John 21:1-19 from the 3rd Sunday of Easter. At that time, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way. Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, & two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We also will come with you.” So they went out & got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” They answered him, “No.” So he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat & you will find something.” So they cast it, & were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad, & jumped into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, for they were not far from shore, only about a hundred yards, dragging the net with the fish. When they climbed out on shore, they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it & bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you just caught.” So Simon Peter went over & dragged the net ashore full of one hundred fifty-three large fish. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come, have breakfast.” And none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they realized it was the Lord. Jesus came over & took the bread & gave it to them, & in like manner the fish. Russ has casted his net to the other side & he is in heaven with Arlene. He was a kind, caring, generous man with strong values & ethics, who loved his family. He will be missed by everyone whose life he has touched.

Message: I would like to extend my personal thanks and appreciation to everyone visiting this site. Friends such as yourself have helped to enrich my fathers life, to which I am eternally grateful. I look forward to reading about the many happy times you have enjoyed together. Lets celebrate his life together. I look forward to meeting you personally during the visitation this Saturday.