Russell Francis Kappenman of Redmond passed away Wednesday, March 18 at home after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 70.

Russell was born Sept. 2, 1938 in Lennox, S.D. to Frank and Madelene Courey Kappenman as the first of three children and raised in Mitchell, S.D. He graduated from Notre Dame High School in 1956. Following high school, he attended the State University of South Dakota, where he earned a Bachelors Degree in Mathematics in 1960. Russell went on to study at the State University of Iowa where he earned a Masters Degree in Mathematics. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, The Society of the Sigma Xi, Pi Mu Epsilon Fraternity and Phi Eta Sigma Fraternity.

In 1962, Russell entered the United States Navy. During his tenure in the Navy, he earned the rank of Lieutenant, working on classified projects at the Pentagon.

On June 27, 1964, Russell married Eva Maria Schamberger in Washington, D.C. Following his Honorable Discharge from the Navy they moved from Arlington, Virginia to Athens, Ohio where he worked as a professor at the University of Ohio in the Department of Mathematics. In 1967, they moved to Buffalo, N.Y. where he earned his PhD in Statistics in 1969. The family then moved to Pennsylvania where Russell worked as a Professor of Statistics at Penn State University until 1976.

In 1976, the family settled in Redmond. He started a long career at NOAA. His work as a statistician in the National Marine Fisheries Center and the Alaska Fisheries Center was a significant contribution to the science of fisheries management. He entered retirement in Sept. 1998. Throughout his career, Russell authored numerous publications related to mathematical and statistical topics.

In his leisure time, Russell enjoyed golfing, bowling, playing pool and chasing his grandchildren, when they were not chasing him. Russell was a founding member of St. Jude Catholic Church in Redmond.

Survivors include his loving wife, Eva Kappenman of Redmond; children, Eva Harlow and her husband, Clifton, of Phoenix, Ariz., Andrea Sharma and her husband, Kanwal, of Monte Sereno, Calif., Thomas Kappenman and his wife, Jeanine, of Peoria, Ariz., and Laura Footer and her husband, Ian, of Monroe, Wash.; sister, Mary Grady and her husband, Michael, of Joliet, Ill.; sister-in-law Mabel Kappenman, of Mesquite, Texas, seven grandchildren, four nieces and nephews and a host of extended family members and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother Raymond Kappenman.

A funeral Mass will be held at 11 a.m., Wednesday, March 25 at St. Jude Catholic Church in Redmond. A private inurnment will be held at Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests remembrances to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (www.pancan.org) or St. Jude Catholic Church (www.stjude-redmond.org).

Friends are invited to get directions, view photos and share memories in the family’s online guest book at www.flintofts.com.