William C. Russell, Jr.
1915 – 2009
William C. Russell, Jr., long-time resident of Central City, died in his home on Eureka Street early Sunday morning. He was 93 years old.
Bill was born in 1915 his Denver; his father was a mining engineer who worked throughout the west. Bill grew up in Colorado, though he was sometimes sent to military schools in other states.
In the 1930’s, with the country hit hard by the depression, Bill moved to the tiny mining town of Nevadaville in Gilpin County, Colorado; after a few years working there, he came down the hill to what would be his home for the next 65 years, Central City.
When in Central he continued to mine, but also opened an antique store and later a museum. He got involved in politics, serving many years on city council and then as mayor. He co-authored a book on the Pikes Peak cog railroad, and acted in many Denver-area stage productions as well as in major motion pictures.
In the 1970s he bought the struggling local newspaper, the Weekly Register-Call; he continued to operate it through the years until finally, after the closure of the Rocky Mountain News early in 2009, it became the oldest continuously published newspaper in Colorado.
In 1945, Bill wed his wife, Kay; the couple was married for 62 years until her death on New Year’s Day, 2008. Bill will be buried next to Kay in Fairmount Cemetery in Denver.
There will be a memorial service in celebration of Bill’s life at the Fairmount Memorial Chapel at 11 a.m. on Saturday. Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to Mt. Evans Hospice, 3081 Bergen Park Drive, Evergreen, CO 80439; or to the Central City Opera House Association, 400 South Colorado Blvd., Suite 530, Denver, CO 80426.