Donald Glenn Russell

Services for Donald Glenn Russell, 84 of Tyler, will be held on Tuesday, December 29, 2015 at 10:00 AM, at Christ Episcopal Church in Tyler, Texas with Rev. David Luckenbach officiating. A private burial will be held at Rose Lawn Cemetery in Tyler under the direction of Stewart Family Funeral Home. Donald Glenn Russell was born November 24, 1931 in Kansas City, Missouri, the only son of Lena Mae Agey Russell and Virgil Glenn Russell. He moved with his parents to Overton, Texas as a young boy, and graduated from high school there in 1949. He graduated from Kilgore College in 1951 and then attended Sam Houston State University on a music scholarship, playing trumpet in the Houstonians Jazz Band. He received his BS in Mathematics and Physics in 1953. Mr. Russell then attended the University of Oklahoma, where he received an MS in Mathematics in 1955. During his senior year at Sam Houston, Mr. Russell married Norma Jean Robertson of Kilgore on March 21, 1953. Norma was truly the love of his life, and they were married for 62 years. In 1955, Mr. Russell went to work full time for Shell Oil Company, where he embarked on a storied career in petroleum engineering. His career in the oil and gas business spanned some 60 years and stretched around the globe. After various assignments in production operations, exploration and production (E&P) research and corporate level departments of Shell, he successfully held the posts of Vice President Corporate Planning, Vice President International E&P and Vice President Production. Mr. Russell was President of Shell Development Company, Shell's R&D organization, when he retired in 1987. In 1988, Mr. Russell took a new position as President and Chief Executive Officer of Sonat Exploration Company, an independent oil and gas company. He led Sonat Exploration through a very successful decade of growth as a domestic E&P company. He also served on the Board of Directors of Sonat Inc. for seven years. Mr. Russell retired from Sonat in 1998. After 1998, Mr. Russell founded and led the Russell Companies, a group of independent oil and gas exploration and production companies located in Tyler, Texas. Mr. Russell was very active in the technical activities of the petroleum industry, was author or coauthor of a number of papers published by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) and was coauthor with C.S. Matthews of Pressure Build Up and Flow Tests in Wells, the first SPE monograph. He served on the Board of Directors and on various committees of SPE and the American Institute of Mining Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) and was SPE President in 1974 and AIME President in 1990. Mr. Russell was a past Chairman of the SPE Foundation Board of Trustees and was an Honorary Member of both SPE and AIME. He received SPE's Cedrick K. Ferguson Medal, awarded for an outstanding technical paper written by an engineer under 33 years of age. He also received the SPE DeGolyer Distinguished Service Medal and John Franklin Carll Award, and was named an Honorary Member of the Distinguished Graduates Society of the University of Oklahoma College of Engineering. Mr. Russell was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1982. Mr. Russell and Norma are the parents of Karen, and Steven, they have 3 grandchildren: Sarah, Andrew and Thomas. Mr. Russell was incredibly devoted to his family and with Norma created a loving and nurturing environment for his children and grandchildren. His family is perhaps his greatest legacy. He was a avid golfer and hunter. Mr. Russell died on December 19, 2015 after a long battle with Alzheimer's Disease. His family is extremely grateful for the compassionate and thorough care he received in his final years from his wife Norma, his children Karen Ford, and Steven, his son-in-law Jeffrey Ford and his longtime assistant Douglas Holcomb. Pamela Hambrick also contributed significantly to his care during his illness. The hospice teams from CIMA and Candy Cares provided outstanding support during his final days. If desired, memorials may be made to The College Scholarship Fund of the Choir School of East Texas at Christ Episcopal Church, 118 S. Bois D Arc Ave., Tyler, TX 75702.

Donald Glenn Russell

November 24, 1931 - December 19, 2015