Denny Earl Russell

Denny Earl Russell, the son of the late Jerry D. Russell and Bonnie M. (Houston) Brown was born November 5, 1957, at Houston, MO, and passed away at Select Specialty Hospital in Springfield, MO, on June 13, 2024, at the age of 66.  Denny was united in marriage to Diana Price on June 18, 1980.  To this union two children were born: Jarod Shelton and Jami Apodaca.

Denny attended school in Summersville.  As a young boy, Denny attended the Methodist Church in Summersville where he accepted Christ as his personal savior.  Denny graduated from Summersville High School in 1976.  Denny was a hard worker and throughout the years he held a couple jobs.  After high school, he worked as a carpenter in Summersville and the Lake of the Ozarks area for several years.  In December of 1999, Denny went to work for the Missouri Department of Corrections in Licking.  After 20 years, Denny retired as a Maintenance Supervisor in 2019.

Denny liked to spend the majority of his spare time fishing and hunting.  In the early 1980's, Denny was a member of the Lake of the Ozarks Bass Club.  Later in the 1990's and early 2000's, Denny was a member of the Norfork Bass Club where he competed in numerous Arkansas B.A.S.S Chapter Federation Tournaments.  Denny's favorite pastime was fishing, but if he was not at the lake chasing largemouth bass or stripers then he was hunting.  For several years Denny worked for his good friend Mark Hampton as a hunting guide at Show-Me Safaris.  If he was not guiding and the fish weren't biting, Denny enjoyed hanging out with Mark and Steve Bryant on Mark's farm.  They all enjoyed gearing up to hunt deer and turkeys with the occasional squirrel hunt thrown in.  Though Denny was an avid outdoorsman, fishing was always his passion.  If Denny could not go fishing you could bet he was calling around to find out who was catching what and to see what the water temperature was at Lake Norfork.

Besides outdoor activities of fishing and hunting, Denny had a few more things he liked to do in his spare time.  During the spring, Denny liked to plant a garden next to his carport so he could sit next to it while deep frying fish or cooking pork steaks on his grill during the summer time. Year round, if Denny was not home there was a good chance that you could find him at Karr Kare or Stop-N-Spot.  One of Denny's favorite things to do was to tease and flirt with the ladies at the convenience stores.  If he was not at Karr Kare messing with Karen and losing money to Barb on a Cardinal's baseball game bet, he was at Stop-N-Spot giving his mom (Shelly) a hard time and eating all of Myrtle's chicken.  Denny was quite the character and there was never a dull moment when he was around.

Denny is survived by his son Jarod Shelton and wife Kristi of Centralia, MO; daughter Jami Apodaca and husband Jose of Independence, MO; five grandchildren Kalista, Trenton, Trinity, Cicely, and Jack; brother Kenny Russell and wife Bonnie of Summersville, MO; brother Jay Russell and wife Debbie of Willow Springs, MO; as well as many other cousins, family members, and friends.