Obituary of Russell E. Deskus

Russell E. Deskus February 22, 1946 - March 15, 2012 Russell E. Deskus, 66, of Putnam, CT, surrounded by his loving family, went home to be with our Lord peacefully after a long and courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. He was born in Hartford, CT, son of Walter G. Deskus, Sr. and Blanche J. Deskus. He was the loving husband for forty one years to Paula Tetreault Deskus. Together they raised three wonderful children, Shelley Fauxbel-Renaud of Woodstock, Rusty P. Deskus (Michelle) of Woodstock and Angela R. O' Conner (Michael) of Woodstock. He also leaves behind nine grandchildren, which were his pride and joy, Tyler and Ashley Fauxbel, Haylee and Zachary Renaud, Kayla and Colleen Deskus and Molly, Aidan and Colbie O'Connor. Russell spent most of his childhood growing up in Stafford Springs. Upon graduating from high school, Russell served eight years in the Air Force Reserves. After meeting his loving wife, Paula, they moved to Putnam to raise their family. Russell was employed for forty one years at Pratt & Whitney Aircraft and retired in June of 2005. Russell's greatest pleasure was spending time with his family. He also had a love of the outdoors, hunting with his son, fishing with his son and grandchildren and just enjoying the great outdoors with his family by his side. Russell also had a great passion for gardening. He took great pride planting his vegetable garden every spring and tending to his fruit trees, and with that, came along riding his grandchildren around on his "Big Blue Tractor". Russell also looked forward to spring when it was time to open up the summer camp on Pond Factory in Woodstock, where he and Paula spent the past seventeen summers there with his children, grandchildren, and many friends. There were many good times at the camp, lots of special memories made. In Russell's spare time, he and Paula would head south and try their luck at Foxwoods Casino. He highly enjoyed playing cards whether it was at the casino or a good ole family card game. Russell will always be remembered as a wonderful, loving husband, father and great friend to all who knew him. He was always willing to give the shirt off his back. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him. He is also survived by his nine brothers and sisters: Robert Deskus (Patricia) of Mystic, CT; Walter Deskus, Jr. (Judi) of Wells, ME; Patricia West of Hampton, NH; George Deskus (Pat) of Stafford Springs; Ann Backofen (Charles) of Wauregan, CT; William Deskus (Joanne) of Stafford Springs; Beverly French (Joseph) of Berwick, ME; Lorraine French (John) of Willimantic, CT; Henry Deskus of Michigan and many nieces and nephews. Family and friends are invited to join in a Celebration of Life at 2:00 PM on Sunday March 25th at the Smith and Walker Funeral Home, 148 Grove Street, Putnam, CT. There will be a gathering of the family and friends after the service at the Putnam Elks Hall, Edmond Street, Putnam. All are Welcome. To share a memory with Russell's Family "Light a Candle" at www.smithandwalkerfh.com In lieu of flowers, the family has asked for donations of their choice to one of the following charities: Relay for Life: go to www.relayforlife.org, enter 06281 where it says donate, click on first one Woodstock Fairgrounds, donate to support a team on the home page. Team name is DAD'S TEAM, from there follow directions, the second choice Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Attn: Research & Development, PO Box 849168, Boston, MA 02284-9168, and the final choice is Hospice of NE CT, PO Box 632, Putnam, CT 06260