Mr. Russo, 79, of Jackson, died Sept. 11, 2011, from melanoma, at Kimball Medical Center, Lakewood. He was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and lived there until moving to the Winding Ways Community in Jackson in 1996. Prior to retiring, he worked for the city of New York, Department of Traffic. He was also a gifted carpenter who could create or fix almost anything. He enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard as a seaman recruit in 1949 and was honorably discharged as an engineman first class in 1952. Mr. Russo was a member of the Jackson Senior Center and a communicant of St. Aloysius Roman Catholic Church, Jackson. He was predeceased by a daughter, Suzanne, in 1986; and his wife, Josephine, in 2010. Surviving are a son and daughter-in-law, Steven and Robin Russo of Manalapan; two grandsons, Brandon and Daniel; a sister and brother-in-law, Carmela and Pat Graziano of Jackson; a brother and sister-in-law, Louis and Rosemarie Russo of Whiting; and many other family members. A funeral liturgy was celebrated at St. Aloysius Church. Entombment followed at Hillside Mausoleum at Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn. Memorial donations may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Pl., Memphis, TN 38105.Arrangements were by the George S. Hassler Funeral Home, Jackson.
