Someone I greatly respected passed away over the weekend.

He was a hard worker. He was an inspiration. He was someone who could work with anyone and bring out the best in others. He knew how to bring laughter to stressful days. He was a professional with so much to teach.

When we worked together there was no question he would fight for everyone. When he was crew chief there was no question the crew would be phenomenal. When he was working a show there was no question the show would be phenomenal.

He leaves behind his fantastic family (who I was fortunate to meet many times), his loyal crew, and so many others who knew him, loved him, and will take everything he taught us forever forward through our lives.

As he would say before every single show:

Oh lord. Please don’t let me fuck up. Never give up. Never surrender. And may the force be with you. Have a great show.

I’m sorry, Russ. This is the one time I can’t keep to our crew motto: You go, I go. You went, but I still have work to do here. But I’ll keep your spirit with me through every show and every hard day.