Joe Thomas Russey

Joe Thomas Russey   July 1, 1934 to December 30, 2022

Joe was a lifelong resident of Abilene where he was born to D.P. Russey and Johnnie Higginbotham on July 1, 1934.   He passed away on December 30, 2022 at the age of eighty-eight.  Funeral services will be held on Friday, January 6, 2023 at 2:00 in the afternoon at Piersall Funeral Directors and Funeral Home located at 733 Butternut in Abilene.

Joe graduated from Abilene High School in 1953.  He was very happy that the building is being repurposed for the new Abilene Library.  He graduated from Hardin Simmons in 1957.

He married his best friend, Gail Coker, on June 28, 1957.  They had been married for sixty-five years and were friends for over eighty years.

While at Abilene High and Hardin Simmons, Joe was in the Naval Reserve.  During his eight years in the Reserve, he did many cruises out of Miami and New Orleans to the Caribbean including stops in Cuba and Puerto Rico.  He was part of Navy exercises off the east coast being trained as a sub chaser.  While in San Diego, his shooting skills earned him membership in the Navy’s Pershing Rifles organization.  Joe was the number one shooter in his class of fifteen hundred recruits and reservists.

In the 70’s, Joe took over ownership of Russey’s Printing and Lithography from his father.  The company was started in 1927 and remained in operation for seventy-nine years until their retirement in 2006.

As a lifelong Abilenean, Joe had a vested interest in making Abilene the best it could be.  He was involved in many community organizations.  Besides his involvement, along with Gail, he also served as President of the Abilene Philharmonic, Civic Abilene, the Abilene Zoo, Kiwanis West and Chairman of the Board of Elders and Trustees of the First Christian Church.  He served on the Board of Directors of The Grover Nelson Park Zoological Foundation, The Grace Museum, Abilene Country Club, and the Abilene Petroleum Club. He served on Civic Abilene for twenty-seven years and he and Gail were involved with Abilene Zoo for over fifty years. In September 2017, the Abilene Zoo honored Joe and Gail for over fifty years of dedicated service with a dinner and a permanent bench at the zoo across from the current entrance.

In 2005, Joe and Gail were named “Citizens of the Year” by the Abilene Chamber of Commerce for their many years of dedicated service to the City of Abilene.

The Military Affairs Council was of great interest to him.  He and Gail both served as liaisons from the Abilene Chamber of Commerce to Dyess for many years first with the 7 ^th Bomb Wing and then the 317 ^th C130 Maintenance Group.  Joe and Gail treasure the friendships made through their involvement with the Military Affairs Council over several decades. These friendships still remain today with friends dispersed around the country and the globe.  Joe remembers hunting on the land that is now Dyess AFB, as the land belonged to his aunt and uncle, Della and George Wragg.

Joe loved animals, not only at the Abilene Zoo, but at home.  At home, he and Gail, had MeowMeow, Bear, Prissy and Rufus, his outdoor cats as well as the neighborhood birds which he fed at least twice a day.  He also maintained two large koi ponds at the house.  The fish started out small but grew to be very large in their large heated ponds. They came to eat out of a spoon after hearing Gail ring a small bell. Many know of the “herd of cats” at the printing company.  These were strays that he fed twice a day, rain or shine, for many years even after retiring and selling the building.  He loved critters.

Joe is survived by his wife, Gail, daughters - Kathy Drury and Dianna (Benny) Atkinson; grandchildren - Jeremy (Shanna) Presley of Baird and Brandi (Josh) DeRemer of Abilene; great grandchildren - Hailee, Cody, Tyler and Lacey Presley of Baird and Mason DeRemer of Abilene.  Joe is also survived by his sister, Louise White, and her children, Dr. John White and Pamela White, all of Galveston.   There are a myriad of cousins and second cousins around the surrounding counties, Texas and across America.

The family wishes to thank the teams of people, including physicians, nurses and staff, who cared for Joe while he was staying at Encompass, Wisteria Skilled Nursing Center, Hendrick Medical Center Emergency Room, 7 ^th Floor Nursing station and ICU as well as the RN Flight Crew from Shannon Medical Center in San Angelo.   Thank you for caring for him while in your charge.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to The Grover Nelson Park Zoological Foundation c/o The Abilene Zoo.  Please note “Joe Russey” in the memorandum.  Condolences may be offered to the family online at www.pbfuneraldirectors.com.