Russell Lamb

I met Russell back in 1967 at Hanson's Drug Store and we became life-long friends. Hanson's Drug Store and the gas station next door was where a lot of us from the west side hung out. We worked together down at Coca-Cola with Rick Stoppeleworth. Russ and Rick were foremen on the night shift for loading trucks. Rick was later killed in Vietnam. Around 1969 we moved in together at Trillium Housing off University Avenue with my sister Joni and Mark Lomblot. It was a heck of a ride. We were living there when the UW Math building was blown up in 1970. That December, both Russ and I started our military careers. He went into the Army National Guard and I went into the Air National Guard. After returning to the Chicago area with his family, we met up again when they moved to northern Wisconsin where we stayed at a cabin on their property. It was nice to see Madeline and our son Alex were the same age and played together a lot that week. Russ moved back to Madison and we joined him and his mother a number of times at the Fireside. Joan was also a wonderful woman and a pleasure to meet. We convinced him to finish his National Guard career and he worked with me at Headquarters for about 6 years. He was a valuable asset for logistics and was well respected there. Due to his long, extended travel, we did not get together during the past few years, but we talked often. You couldn't ask for a better man. It was an honor knowing him and working with him for so many years. Jim Valley