- Date Of Birth: December 25, 1939
- Date Of Death: July 1, 2010
- State: Indiana
Russ Lash, age 70, of Rensselaer passed away July 1, 2010 at his residence in Rensselaer due to Pancreatic Cancer.
Russ was born December 25, 1939 in Bloomington, Indiana to the late Donald Lash and surviving Margaret Mendenhall Lash. The Lash family lived in (Irvington) Indianapolis during the 1950 and 60’s and were very active in Irvington Methodist Church.
Russ attended Howe High School and followed in his father’s footsteps by winning the ISHAA Mile Championship, in 1957 and 1958 and Cross Country Championship in 1958.
They were the only father son duo to win the State Mile Championship. Both father and son ran varsity track and cross country at IU Bloomington where Russ graduated from the School of Business in 1962.
Upon graduation, Russ received his Officers Commission from the IU ROTC Program and was platoon leader in an Infantry Company. Before his Army Discharge in 1965, Russ participated in the 1964 Olympian Modern Pentahalon Trials at Fort Sam Hood, this includes five military sports such as horseback jumping, fencing, pistol shooting, swimming and running.
In 1965, Russ was appointed as a Special Agent with the FBI , assigned to Birmingham, Alabama, Richmond Virginia, and the Washington D.C. area. At age 29 , Russ was appointed Warden of the Maximum Security Prison at Michigan City, where he served 5 years before his appointment of Director of Corrections in Oklahoma in 1974. Russ moved to Northwest Indiana in 1975 and built an Insurance Agency as an Independent Contractor, and retired in 2006. On May 7, 1988, in Rensselaer Russ married Shirley A. Ellis who survives. Surviving along with his wife are two children, Ryan Lash , Muncie, Suzanne (David) Garrison, Greer, South Carolina, one brother David (Mariam) Lash, one sister, Marguerite (Mike) Klausmeier. step children, Randy (Carrie) Allen, Kim (Duane) Yaros, six grandchildren, one great-grandson, and numerous nieces and nephews.
