Stephenville senior honoured

Clyde Russell served in the armed forces, volunteers in his community

Clyde Russell does what he can to serve people in need and make his community a better place for all.

The Stephenville resident, 65, is a Canadian Armed Forces veteran of more than three decades and, since returning home in 2009, he’s continued to serve his town by volunteering for a wide array of community initiatives.

For all his efforts, he was recently named one of the 2021 Newfoundland and Labrador Seniors of Distinction.

Russell was in Alberta visiting family when John Abbott, minister of Children, Seniors and Social Development, called him to say he was one of five seniors selected for the award this year.

Russell says he was surprised and humbled to receive the honour.

“There are many seniors all across our province doing many wonderful things,” he says. “So, it was a humbling experience. I was quite proud to be selected, to be selected from such a group.”

He also thought of the many volunteers who have worked with him throughout the years.

“There are many outstanding volunteers that helped me,” he says.

Russell was unable to attend the ceremony in St. John’s but participated virtually. When he spoke to The West Coast Wire on Oct. 14, he was awaiting the award.

MILITARY SERVICE

A retired colonel, Russell has more than 33 years of command and staff experience in the Canadian Armed Forces.

He served as an instructor and mentor at training facilities at home and abroad.

His command experience includes participating in the recovery operation for the Swissair Flight 111 crash off Nova Scotia in 1998 and assisting the migration of Kosovo refugees to Canada in 1999.

He also served as commanding officer for Canada’s National Counter-Terrorism Unit, as director for CounterTerrorism and Special Operations at Canadian National Defence Headquarters, and as chief of staff, Land Forces, Atlantic Area.

He served in many parts of the world, including Afghanistan, Germany, Cyprus and Bosnia, as well as short stints elsewhere. Russell had reached the rank of colonel when he retired in 2009.

His final post was in Halifax before he returned home to Stephenville.

However, since his retirement, he has done additional work with Canadian Special Operations Command, while also serving as a Special Operations Subject Matter Experience and Senior Mentor for the Special Operations Component Planning Course at NATO Special Operations School in Belgium.

He also served for about three years as commanding officer for Second Battalion, Royal Newfoundland Regiment.

Russell is an officer of the Order of Military Merit, a prestigious award recognizing distinctive merit and exceptional service. He was presented by the Governor General in 2007.

He is also a recipient of the U.S. Army bronze star, presented to him by the U.S. Special Operations Command. The combat award is for meritorious service in a combat zone.

He received it for his service in Afghanistan in the mid 2000s.

VOLUNTEERING

Since returning home, Russell has been an active member of his community, serving in a new way. The work is highly important to him.

“The motivation for me is to try to make my community a better place, especially to serve those people who are unfortunate through circumstance, by chance or whatever – there are people out there who need help,” he says.

He helps in a variety of capacities.

As board chair for the Stephenville Historic French Cultural Association, Russell is helping to record the history and preserve the legacy of the Francophone community who populated the Stephenville area prior to the establishment of the Ernest Harmon Air Force Base by the United States military in the 1940s.

The association is working on several projects, gathering and archiving information as well as trying to get a monument to the Francophone community, which was primarily Acadian.

Russell is also a board member of the Bay St. George Sick Children’s Foundation, a group that fundraises and provides financial support to assist families with the medical care of sick children. One of their fundraisers is a telethon they haven’t been able to do the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also, Russell is vice-president of the Bay St. George Seniors Transportation System, a group who has worked hard on getting a bus to provide low-cost transportation for seniors.

They achieved their goal earlier this month.

“No senior should feel trapped in their house because they can’t afford a trip to town or whatever,” says Russell.

Since returning home, he has followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, joining the Knights of Columbus. He has been Grand Knight for the past two and a half years.

The Knights are involved in about 30 or 40 charitable causes in the community and across the province, Russell estimates.

Russell is also a member of the Rotary Club and has served as a military advisor to the Town of Stephenville.

He keeps busy with all this and more.

“My wife and I are quite busy,” he says. “We definitely don’t have too many days where we aren’t involved in some kind of charitable activity or another.”

FAMILY AND INTERESTS

Russell was born in Kippens in 1956. He married his wife Elsie in 1977. They have three children and four grandchildren.

Outside of his volunteer efforts in the community, Russell enjoys reading, especially history books and adventure stories.

He is also an avid outdoorsman. As a member of the Qalipu First Nation, he says he values having a close connection to the land.

“Just about every season or time of the year, I have an activity I do on the land or the water,” said Russell. “That’s my biggest hobby outside of all the volunteer work and stuff I do.”