Russell was born on 9/1/1942 in Bell, California to Harold Adelbert Petersen and Elouise Lorraine (Carroll) Petersen.  An only child, he delighted in the companionship of a succession of pet terrier dogs. Each year he looked forward to camping and hunting with his father in the hills east of Bakersfield.  Harold was an avid prospector and the two of them would camp in a Gold Rush era settler's cabin on their gold claim while looking for unusual rocks and possible gold ore. They found gold in one area of the claim, but after much hard work abandoned the dig when the vein petered out.

Russell spent his early childhood with his mother and her family in the California central valley until he moved to Santa Barbara to live with his father.  He attended La Cumbre Junior High School and graduated from Santa Barbara High School in 1960.  While attending Santa Barbara City College he met his future wife, Patricia Jeanne Goohs, who was an engineering student at the time at UCSB.  When the Vietnam War interrupted his schooling, the couple married and settled in San Diego where Pat attended San Diego State University while Russ was posted to Midway Island, NAS Miramar, and finally to the USS Sperry in San Diego.  After the war, he returned to school, obtaining a Bachelor's degree in Information Systems Management from SDSU.

The couple had two lovely daughters, Linda Danielle and Susan Michelle.  He delighted in seeing both daughters graduate, Linda from San Diego Mesa College and Susan from SDSU.  But he was most proud to attend Linda's wedding in 2016.  In the past two years, Russ developed congestive heart failure which eventually took his life.

He is survived by his wife Patricia J. Petersen and daughters Linda D. (Petersen) Goyette and Susan M. Petersen.