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| Russ' Family History |
| Russ & Lynnette Parsley October 1999 |
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Russ was born in what was a small town called Concord in the Northern region of California. He was the youngest of two and has a Sister, Rebecca, residing in Fresno, California. His Father, Richard, an early influence on Russ' Radio Broadcasting interests was born and raised in Alameda, California to Raymond & Thelma. Raymond was an Engineer for Southern Pacific Railroad for 47 years when he retired and Thelma was a Clerk for the Alameda Water Works company when she retired. Russ' Mother, Marcia Lynn, was born and raised in Oakland, California to Oser & Ellen Price.Over the past 18 years, Russ' Grand Parents have passed on. His Mother recently relocated to Fresno, California from Los Gatos, California while his Father remains in Alameda. Russ' parents separated when he was 4 years old which had him, his mom and his sister relocating to Sunnyvale, California. When Russ' Mom remarried after he'd turned 7 years old, they moved to Cupertino, California. Eventually they relocated once again to Fremont, California. By the time Russ reached 11 years old, he asked his Mom if she would allow him to move to his Father's home in Danville, California. Realizing how much it would mean to the both of them, she agreed. Russ relocated and after just one year with his Dad, he realized things weren't as he had expected they would be. His Dad was facing a separation from his 2nd wife, Lorraine. Wanting to stay with him, Russ relocated to Walnut Creek, California and attended his first year of Jr. High School at Walnut Creek Intermediate |
| At the end of the school year, Russ' mom went to visit him and asked him to return for a few reasons. Primarily because Russ' grades were suffering. As much as he loved his Dad, Russ agreed to return. By this time, Russ' Mom and Sister and Step-father, Jack, had relocated to San Jose, California. Upon Russ' return, he attended a Jr. High School, Patrick Henry, for the first 1/3 of the school year when his Mom and Step-father separated. He, his Mom, and his Sister relocated to the East Side of San Jose where he went to Piedmont Middle and eventually Piedmont Hills High School for all four years. Following his graduation, Russ decided to move from home to make it on his own. Besides working for Lucky's grocery store as a Bagger, he took up the role of House Sitter during the Summer months for his former girlfriend's Grandparents. After their return, they allowed him to stay until November which was when the Holidays were to bring relatives visiting from back east, which would mean little room for Russ. This was about the same time he got a call from a buddy of his, Mike Ahrens, that was leaving for the Air Force and wanted to see him before he left for Basic Military Training. Once Russ arrived at Mike's place that he rented with 2 other guys, e saw that he was packing up his belongings and putting them in his truck. Russ asked Mike, "so who's movin' in after you leave?" Mike said, "not sure, why you lookin'?" Russ said, "yep, need a place by the end of the month." Mike said, "cool, I'll hook you up with my roomates and see what they say." Russ ended up moving in shortly after Mike left for BMT in November of 1981. In March of 1982, a number of dramatic events took place in Russ' life. The new job he started just six months earlier at a Fremont, CA computer firm had come to an end due to the company filing for Bankruptcy. As Russ was in search of a new position and finding his job prospects highly challenged, he was distracted in thought while driving from one interview to another when all of a sudden he noticed a car in his path. He immediately hit his brakes, but unfortunately wasn't able to come to a complete stop before making contact. Though no one was hurt physically, Russ had had it, emotionally. It was then, Russ decided to do something important with his life. Realizing that working 2 or 3 jobs and going to college one class at a time each semester at San Jose State was not going to get him where he wanted to be any time too soon. What was worse, was Russ really didn't have a plan as to what he wanted out of life. It was at that moment, that finally it all started to make sense to Russ. He realized, by leaving home, that he had given up his only real chance for a stable environment while furthering his education. So, to put it right, he figured he had two choices. The first would be to move in with his Sister, as his mom had moved on with her life and was no longer in the area, or he could do the one thing that he had thought about a few times in High School but could never really make a decision either way. Not wanting to trouble his Sister, Russ' next visit was to an Air Force Recruiter, TSgt Rod Glover, in the San Jose Air Force Recruiter's office. Russ finally made a commitment to himself, as he would later to his country, he decided to enlist in the Air Force for 4 years, get through his BMT and initial training as an Aircraft Weapons Systems Specialist and continue his college education while he was in the service. Though Russ' mind was made up, he found getting in right away wasn't that easy. Once Russ was promised a position, he also found that there was a Delayed Enlistment Program that coordinated the time he would graduate from BMT to the start of the next Technical School course for his job in the AFSC, 462X0. October 18, 1982 was the day he was to report to the MEPS station in Oakland, CA for inprocessing and departure for Lackland AFB, TX. Russ used the seven months wisely. He picked up a position as a Shipper/Receiver/Data Control Processor for Industrial Health Incorporated in Palo Alto, CA. As he received each paycheck, he made efforts to pay off all of his debts and sold his '74 Ford Gran Torino to a co-worker. He said his final farewell to a few close friends one of which, unbeknownst to Russ, was to later become his bride. |
| Contact Information Russ Parsley P.O. Box 27211, Fresno CA 93729-7211 559.281.5491 email: russ@russparsley.com |