My Friend Russ Adey

My Friend, Russ Adey, died last Wednesday from a meningitis infection. I just found out this morning. I couldn't sleep after hearing the bad news from his brother, so I decided to work on a memorial art piece for him.

I had visited Russ about three weeks ago and we had discussed the usual stuff; family, school, my web-art...and his bad sinus infection. He said it was nothing much and he felt he was 'just getting over it'. It didn't seem like a big deal at the time.

But it was.

For some reason, I decided to snap a couple of pictures of Russ in his workshop just before I left. It was, it seemed, just a 'normal visit'...but it would turn out to be the last time I would ever see him. It's likely that the pictures of I took of Russ that night were the last ever taken of him, so I e-mailed them to his family.

I met Russ around 1988 in Fife, Washington where I was hired to work as an assistant manager at a chain motel called Traveler's Inn. Russ was the acting night auditor. He'd worked at the motel for about a year or so and was more than happy to help me adjust to my new job and filled me in on the whole situation. Russ was a shrewd judge of character and decided I was good for the motel...and said as much.

One night a 'girl-gang' brawl broke out in the back of the motel with lotsa screaming and such. I sorta peeked out the back door to assess the situation...then Russ pushed me clear outside and locked the door behind me to make sure I dealt with it.

We became fast friends right away.

When he left the motel, Russ worked as a pizza delivery driver for many years. He met a very beautiful young gal there who eventually moved in with him for awhile, but they never had any children and eventually, after a year or so, they parted ways. He kicked around at some temp jobs now and then before commiting to a career as a real estate agent.

Over the years, Russ proved himself to be my closest and truest friend. He never let me duck a problem that he thought I was letting slide or let my artist's ego get too big. If my artwork was less than worthy, Russ let me know in no uncertain terms that it 'stunk on ice'. He was very big on 'color' too and would try to push me towards including more of it in my artwork. All-in-all, he was my biggest fan and would sometimes wrestle me out of some of my best works. They're still on his wall. No matter how hard up for money he was, he'd never sell my art.

One of the codes Russ lived by was to 'question everything'. If I had a crazy idea for a project and wanted him to drop everything and join me, he'd look it over and think about it for awhile until he decided it was just hare-brained enough to work. Then he would commit 100% and make me follow through as well. We had many philosophical discussions over the years and disagreed often...but never a cross word to each other was uttered during the entire 20+ years I knew him.

He was always 'Uncle Russ' to my three daughters and my whole family loved him. He'd find artist opportunities for me everywhere and talked me up to strangers to help me make a sale. Whenever we were in need of a hand or a ride to some job or a just needed an ear to listen, he was there for me and my family.

Russ was 'family'.

Russ was also a craftsman and an artist. He loved to create beautiful and exotic art treasures. He made precision models, movie props, star trek collectibles, and much more. Eventually he began to make and sell klingon-style 'bat'leths' and 'mek'leths' on ebay.

There came a time when Russ made enough money from his ebay sales that he could quit the pizza biz altogether and devote himself entirely to his crafts projects. He was known as K'Russ on-line and the high quality of his reproductions and his attention to detail made his works very sought after. To view Russ' work, click on the link below...

http://www.freewebs.com/sotabladesnw/

Russ eventually started working as a real estate agent. He had been working out of the Federal Way Keller Williams office until the economy went sour. He decided to re-invent his life again and went to school in Tacoma to learn Hospital equipment repair. His test scores at the school had just been posted and according to his brother, they were the highest scores for that series of tests in the school's history.

That brilliant attention to detail...

Russ had many, many friends all over the Puget Sound area and his funeral reception next Wednesday will be a very crowded affair indeed. Russ was involved with creative people virtually everyday and sometimes I was hard-pressed to break into his schedule long enough to get in a good visit. Russ is survived by his mother Lila (a talented artist and oil painter) and his brother Ron (a computer and accounting expert).

After I started working as a limo driver, I began to see Russ less and less. That's the problem with this line of work; it's better if you don't have a life to begin with. The pressing need for money kept me either at work or on the computer. I'm lucky I decided to make that last late night visit with my old friend. The best thing I can share with anyone is the memories of the grand people in my life who made life enjoyable and bearable...and rich beyond measure.

So here's to my great, good friend Russ Adey.

Like all sunshine in the northwest...

...gone too soon.