Russ and his wife, Sandra, moved to Heber City, Utah, in 2015 after retiring from teaching for 27 years in public schools in northern Nevada. Russ was an educator and owner for 10 more years in Montessori schools he owned in Juneau, Alaska and here in Heber City, Starry Garden Montessori School, a very pleasant place to be! Russ has degrees in high school, middle school, and elementary school education. He also has certification in Montessori education from Seattle, Washington. He taught children of all ages that learning is incredibly interesting and just plain fun! Russ attended school at BYU, Southern Utah State University, and Utah State University. He grew up in a self-sufficient community in Oak City, Utah, where he learned farming, gardening, and caring for horses, range cattle, sheep, pigs, geese, ducks, and chickens. He learned how to work hard every day and how to “get the job done”.

Russ served a mission in the Southwest Indian Mission in the four-state region of Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado, on Native American reservations, working with and teaching Navajo, Zuni, Hopi & Apache. In the field and as mission secretary and assistant to the president, he was in charge of buying and monitoring vehicles and coordinating youth activities and conferences. During these years, he often found himself walking alone in a vast desert. He learned to use his thumb to catch a ride in the back of a native family’s truck back to Holbrook. Russ served as District Scouting Director for eight years in Northern Nevada for Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts of America. 

Russ and Sandra have eight children, all married, so they count themselves parents of sixteen amazing, wonderful adult children. They currently have 39 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren, all of whom are very loved and appreciated. Russ and Sandra have a small two-acre farm where they have created a “food forest” with regenerative agriculture practices. Russ works with our Utah State County Extension agent to collect information, finding valuable local trees and pioneer trees, and to produce more of these rare varieties through grafting. Russ teaches gardening methods at his farm, Starry Garden Farm, showing people simple methods for bountiful gardens. He has helped over 500 people in Heber Valley start or extend their own garden. Russ was one of the founders and is now the director of Heber Valley Self Reliance under the Human Services Pillar of Wasatch Community Foundation. He helps recruit teachers for once- or twice-weekly self-reliance classes where people from Heber Valley and other nearby valleys can learn to be prepared for home and community emergencies. He directs community members to plant and grow crops to harvest. In 2025, we held a Harvest Fest and, as a community, harvested about 2 acres of potatoes. Russ works with other leaders to host the Wasatch Self-Reliance and Emergency Preparedness Fair.