William (Bill) Lewis Russell, Jr.

William Lewis Russell, born in 1941 in Charlotte, North Carolina, to William L. and Mary G. Russell, passed away in 2026. A graduate of Charlotte’s Harding High School in 1959, he went on to earn a BA in Economics from Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina, in 1963. That same year he married Betty Dean Grubb, beginning a loving marriage that would last 62 years.

After college, Bill began his career with Allstate Insurance in 1964. In 1966 he was drafted into the United States Army, completed Basic Training and Officer Candidate School at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. He was later promoted to First Lieutenant and served with the 3rd Armor Division in Germany for two years before receiving an honorable discharge. He returned to Allstate, where he worked until his retirement in 1996, then continued his insurance career with Thaxton Insurance Group until his final retirement in 2003.

Bill is survived by his wife Betty, their son Duane, his sister-in-law Terry Russell, nephew Brent Russell and his wife Tracie, and grandniece Zoey Russell. He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Robert Griffin Russell.

He will be laid to rest at Rowan Memorial Park in Salisbury, North Carolina. In keeping with his wishes, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to Westford Methodist Church in Concord or to Hospice & Palliative Care of Cabarrus County.