John Stephen Russell was born February 18, 1955 in Joplin, Missouri, to Ruth Hamm. He was raised primarily by his grandmother, Edith Hamm, and they shared a close bond. He had many childhood friends and often spoke fondly of playing games and pranks with neighborhood friends, such as fooling passersby with a fake wallet. He threw newspapers as a boy and often spoke of being able to throw long shots, sometimes landing at customers' feet inside the home. He attended Parkwood High School and enjoyed working at a go-cart track as a teen.
After high school, he began a long career at Eagle Picher, where he did facility maintenance along with various other positions and acted as a Union Steward. He loved fast cars, for which Sherri jokingly called him "AJ Foyt," and he enjoyed owning and working on several classic cars in his teens and early twenties.
John met Sherri Hulette in 1974 through mutual friends and immediately knew that he had found the person that he wanted to marry. They were married in 1974 after only three months of dating. The couple narrowly survived a train wreck early in their marriage. He formed tight friendships with his mother-in-law, Leona "Babe" Hulette, and several brothers and sisters-in-law: Marla Tallman, Lonnie Hulette, John Tom Hulette, and Ronnie Hulette. He was an avid fisherman and especially enjoyed fishing with his brother-in-law, John. He enjoyed spending time with many nieces and nephews: Brooke Hulette, Colton Hulette, Jenny Scott, Jamie Tallman, Jeremy Hulette, and Cassie Jankowski, as well as their children.
Sherri and John soon bought a house in Joplin and two years later Sherri gave birth to a daughter, Misti Lea, in 1977. He was a playful father and loved giving piggyback rides and playing board games with the family. John was a prankster, and he often played tricks on his family and friends, such as creating a stuffed, fully clothed clone of himself to fool his daughter, driving a motorcycle around the neighborhood as fast as possible to the chagrin of Sherri, and creating comical answering machine messages with the family.
He began working at International Paper where he worked on telephone poles in the late 80s and stayed here for many years before going to LaBarge in the 2000s, from which he retired. He spoke fondly of many coworkers he had befriended over the years. John enjoyed weekend trips, watching boxing, and his favorite pasttime--watching Nascar.
He enjoyed attending car shows and in his later years owned two Corvettes which (along with his faithful pup, Maggie May) were his pride and joy. He was active in a Corvette club and found many friends in this. In 2005, he met the second love of his life--his granddaughter, Rylie Tate Peterson. He adored spending time with her, having tea parties and seeing her nearly every day for many years. He also found a friendship in his son-in-law, John Peterson, whom he called "his son."
John had a sharp wit, even in difficult times. He was always cracking jokes or one-liners with his friends or family and was even known as "David Letterman" due to his sense of humor. He played softball in his younger years and had quite the left arm. He loved music, especially rock n' roll, and John and Sherri attended many concerts over the years. He loved Christmas, and would spend hours on the roof creating an enormous display of lights and decorations for his home, for which he earned the nickname "Griswold" by Sherri. He truly cherished holidays and tradition, rising early to open presents, and having family around on these occasions.
John affected all who knew him, and his playful spirit will be missed.
Graveside services for John are 1:00 p.m. Wednesday, January 3, 2018, at Mount Hope Cemetery in Webb City. The family will receive friends for visitation from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Tuesday in the chapel of Thornhill-Dillon Mortuary in Joplin. Online condolences may be sent to the family through our website www.thornhilldillon.com. Arrangements are under the personal care and direction of Thornhill-Dillon Mortuary, Joplin, Missouri.
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