George Russell

George Russell, Frankfort, passed away December 30, 2022, and the world lost a true public servant with a unique and adventurous spirit. His dedication to free and fair elections was the hallmark of a varied and illustrious career, and he left behind a vast array of friends across Kentucky and around the world. George was born in Rome, Georgia, May 16, 1939, to Faye Mitchell Russell and Joe Russell. He arrived in Kentucky by way of Texas, where he graduated from Abilene Christian University, and Chile, where he was a Peace Corps volunteer from 1964 to 1966. A connection made in Chile resulted in a job at the University of Kentucky Extension Service. His community development work with UK led to leadership roles with Area Development Districts in Elizabethtown and Owensboro and then to a request from then-U.S. Senator Wendell Ford to join his staff in Washington, D.C. George returned from Washington to work in the campaign of Governor Martha Layne Collins and the Governor’s Office during her administration. Following her term, he joined the Kentucky Secretary of State’s office in 1989. His elections-experience portfolio grew in Kentucky, where he oversaw the implementation of the state’s first publicly financed gubernatorial election, and beyond, with his service as president of the National Association of State Election Directors. That association provided the conduit that set Russell on his path as an international elections observer. His foreign adventures were a logical outgrowth of Russell’s career working with elections in Kentucky. His 1999 retirement as executive director of both the State Board of Elections and Registry of Election Finance followed many years of service to both. He subsequently served three terms as a gubernatorial appointee to the Board of Elections. In the late 1990s, at a point when many would be winding down their careers, George traveled to Albania for his first assignment as an international elections monitor as a representative of the Organization for the Security and Cooperation in Europe. This assignment proved his most dangerous and marked the beginning of what would become 19 missions he would take over the next two decades to assist foreign governments with elections -- often as an observer, but sometimes as an arbiter of disagreements among politicians. George was part of a three-person international team on trips that took him from Kazakhstan to Malawi, from Montenegro to Cambodia, from Kosovo to El Salvador. The assignments, their challenges and opportunities, gave the avid traveler a rich archive of memories. But it is an award he received domestically that he considered his greatest honor. In 2002, he was nominated and elected by his former colleagues across the country to receive the Freedom Award from the National Association of Secretaries of State as the person who did the most to improve the election system in the United States. He remembered well the award ceremony in Providence, R.I., and his comment that captured the theme of his work at home and abroad: “One of the greatest things we can do is export democracy.” In his retirement, George kept a prodigious travel schedule, having recently returned from Israel and Jordan and with two upcoming trips planned at the time of his passing. Though travel was his first love, George had a zest for life and a vibrant curiosity that fueled many other interests. He was a passionate Democrat who served as Chair of the Franklin County Democratic Party and supported countless Democratic campaigns. He was an avid art collector whose travel fueled an eclectic collection of international art. And above all, he was a collector of friends he cherished. George is survived by those many special friends whose lives were enriched by knowing him. And he leaves behind his beloved godchildren, Trey and Megan Greenwell, and the Greenwell family, who he considered his family. At his request, there will be no service. However, friends will host a Celebration of Life on January 15, 2023, from 5 until 7 p.m. at the Frankfort Woman’s Club, 200 Washington St., Frankfort. Donations in his memory can be made to the Franklin County Community Fund, c/o Bluegrass Community Foundation, 499 E. High Street, Suite 112, Lexington, Kentucky 40507, where George served on the board, or to a charity of your choice. Arrangements are under the direction of Harrod Brothers Funeral Home & Crematory.

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George Russell

May 16, 1939 - December 30, 2022