St. George, Utah - Zack Tyrus Russell passed away January 15, 2016. He was born in the second of four boys and one girl born to Clyde and Ethel Draper Russell on March 24, 1924 in Saint John, Washington.

As a a boy of 12, Zack joined Troop 94 of The Boy Scouts of America, achieving the Eagle Rank in 1940, He accepted the Boy Scout Oath and Law as guides to live by throughout his life. He attended Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA from the fall of 1942 until March of 1943 when he was inducted into the Air Corp as a pilot trainee.

After some state service, he was transferred to Africa where he served in the Army Air Way Communications Outfit as a radio teletype operator and cryptographic technician. He spent time at Accra on the Gold Coast; in Dakar (the west most point of Africa); over a year in Casablanca; and a final few weeks of his two year stint in Algiers.

Zack returned to Whitman College where he met Ruth Schmidt, the Assistant School Nurse. They were married in August of 1946. He then transferred to Washington State College at Pullman. While attending college, Zack worked part-time in the Post Office.

Two sons were born to Zack and Ruth, Dale in 1947 and Wayne in 1949. In 1949, Zack graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology and a minor in Anthropology. He became a professional with The Boy Scouts of America at Butte, Montana. In 1954, The BSA transferred him and family to Hilo, Hawaii until 1957 when he was transferred to The Mt. Diablo Council headquartered at Berkeley, CA. This area was their home until 1970 when Zack accepted a program director position for The Council in Salinas, CA. In 1979 Zack became a Scout Executive for the Southeast Alaska Council at Juneau, Alaska. His expertise and interest with the scouts was in the field of program, camp administration and camp development. As a young professional, Zack started an archery program I three camps because he enjoyed archery and knew that scouts would lie the activity. When he retired in 1984, after 54 years and one month with The BSA, the Southeast Alaska Council was one of the few in the nation with adequate funds on hand to continue operation year after year with only nominal effort put into fund raising.

Zack was an active member of the American Camping Association for 15 years, serving as president of the largest section in California for two years. He served as chairman of the Standards Committee for eight years.

He was a member at various times of the American Legion, the V.F.W, the Moose Lodge, the Kiwanis Club, the Rotary Club and the P.T.A. He was a vigil member of the Order of Arrow, and was honored by the Alaska State Legislature and the Juneau Elks Club for his work and dedication to the Boy Scouting Program. He was a lifetime member of the National Eagle Scout Association.

After his retirement, Zack and Ruth moved to St. George, Utah where they became active in several activities. They became members of the Dixie Rockhounds, highlighting several years of gem outing activity with some club activities – something they never had time for before retirement. Zach faceted gem stones for over 30 years, giving many to friends. They read gages for the B.L.M. and made several extensive surveys for archeological sites. They joined the local Archology Society and Zack served as a board member and one term as president.

Zack worked as a volunteer trainer for the Utah Super Host program that was under the direction of the Washington County Travel and Convention Bureau. Zack and Ruth developed an interest in dosing and attended several conferences and schools on dowsing. A good share of Zack's life was oriented to the outdoors. He enjoyed with his family camping, fishing, rock hounding, learning about flora and fauna in the various areas they lived, some hunting, archery, archeology, golf, and several other outdoor activities.

In 1969, Zack was looking for some excitement and something interesting so he accepted a part-time job with Dixie College (now Dixie State College) as a host – program coordinator with the College Elderhostel program. He was employed to take groups on hikes in our local national parks and state parks. He enjoyed doing this and meeting people from all over the world.

He eventually was able to assist in the planning of trips to many beautiful places in the West and Alaska. One of the things he most enjoyed was not having to raise the money for the trips or do the recruiting, just make all the details of the adventure work and do his best to be sure every participant had a wonderful time. There were few things more rewarding than working for and with the BSA and the Elderhostel Program.

As Zack got older and was confronted with medical problems, he continued to work with the Elderhostel program as a lecturer about the people who lived in the Four Corners area and the different groups who came to live in St. George and the surrounding area.

Zack had a good life, a wonderful family and the vision and ability to do what he wanted to do.