Obituary
A graveside funeral for Jim L. Russell, 75, of Portales will be held at 1:00 PM, Thurs., April 16, 2020, in the Portales Cemetery with Johnny Lieb officiating assisted by Scott P. Reeves. Honorary pallbearers will be Sonny Gardner, Larry Hawkins, Curt Beavert, Steve May, Mack Winn, Junior Alarid, Bob Frost, Dr. Alan Keister, Randy Dunson, Jack Merrick, Buddy Blue, Russell Gardner, with Jim’s grandsons Jackson Russell and Cayden Clark as well as all of his other countless friends. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made to Cowboys for Cancer Research, P O Box 202, Dona Ana, NM 88032 or at their website, www.c4cr.com; or to Heal The City Amarillo, 609 S. Carolina, Amarillo, TX 79106 or at their website, healthecityamarillo.com. Because of the current restrictions on large gatherings, we respectfully request that personal attendance be limited to family and close friends. The service will be live-streamed from our website, wheelermortuary.net, and will remain available for viewing at a later time.
James Lewis Russell, known to everyone as “Jim,” was born Nov. 7, 1944 in Denison, TX. He received his education in the Las Cruces schools, and graduated from Las Cruces High School in 1963. He went on to study Agriculture at New Mexico State University where he was active in Block and Bridle as well as the Rodeo Club. It was while selling tickets to an event for Block and Bridle, that Nadine (Godinez) Mahres introduced him to Miss Linda Purcell, and they were married Aug. 23, 1969 in San Jon, NM.
Jim began his working career as a young boy working at his brother-in-law’s service stations. He loved hanging out with the animals, and spent many hours working volunteer in the pens at NMSU as a pre-teen and teenager. Jim loved to work, and always had a job. He worked at various jobs throughout his lifetime. Most of them were agricultural in nature, and most often they involved driving a truck. At different times he worked for Cal Jordan John Deere dealership, Barnett Construction, Sunmark Grain, AMPI, Southwest Canners, AeroTech and Mack Winn. Jim didn’t adhere to Job Descriptions, always doing whatever it took to get the job done and usually far more. Jim had friends scattered across the entire continent. Jim was a faithful Christian his entire adulthood, and a member of Third and Kilgore Church of Christ.
He is survived by Linda, his wife of more than 50 years of their home; his son, Jeremy Russell of Portales; his daughter and son-in-law, Jennie and Aaron Clark of Canyon, TX; two grandsons, Jackson Russell and Cayden Clark; a brother and sister-in-law, Johnny and Edy Russell of Las Cruces, NM; two sisters and a brother-in-law, Patricia Ann Peugh and MaryVee and Larry Cammack all of Las Cruces, NM; and two brothers-in-law, Jim R. Purcell and wife, Vickie of Big Spring, TX and Jeff W. Purcell and wife, Shellie of Farmington, NM, plus many other relatives. He was preceded in death by his mother, Mary Ann Russell, his parents-in-love, Bill and Margie Purcell, and his brother-in-law, Gene Peugh.
