Frank E Russell

From 1979 to 1998, Russell served as president, CEO and then chairman of CNI, which published The Arizona Republic, the Arizona Business Gazette, the Indianapolis Star and other publications. CNI was purchased by Gannett Co., Inc. in 2000. Russell began his newspaper career in 1959 as a business manager for Eugene Pulliam, founder of CNI. Pulliam’s wife, Nina, turned to Russell to help carry on her humanitarian interests that would create opportunities for people in need, care for animals and nature, and improve community life in Arizona and Indiana, where she lived and worked. After she died in 1997, the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust began. Russell became the chair, and his wife, Nancy, was a founding trustee. They stepped down from the trust in December 2011. He graduated cum laude from the University of Evansville in 1942 before joining the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II with the rank of first lieutenant. After the war, he received a certificate from the International Accountants Society in Chicago and, in 1948, became a certified public accountant. He enrolled in the Indiana University law school, graduating with honors in 1951. Before joining the newspapers, Russell was executive vice president of Spickelmier Industries Inc. from 1953 to 1959, and a partner with the Geo. S. Olive & Co. accounting firm, now BKD, from 1947 to 1953. Russell is survived by his wife, Nancy. Russell’s children, whose mother is Dorothy M. Russell, include Linda C. Atkins, Richard L. and his wife, Belinda, Rita J. Eagle and husband Dru, Frank E. Russell III, and Juli B. Russell; 16 grandchildren; and 16 great-grandchildren. When Russell and Nancy married in 1992, the family grew to include Kevin R. Shover and wife Gail, Sandra Shover Moses and husband John, Lisa Shover Kackley and husband Jerry, and T.A. Shover and wife Julie; seven grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.