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Russell C. Magnuson September 3, 1927- April 20, 2012
(Obituary published in The Seattle Times, May 3, 2012)
Russell Curtis Magnuson was born on a farm in Clear Lake, WI, on September 3, 1927. He graduated from River Falls State College (UW River Falls) and later received his MA in mathematics at Washington State University. He served in the US Army as a paratrooper with the 11th Airborne Division during the Korean War.
Russell taught at Central Kitsap High School in Silverdale, WA, where he met Betty Jean Shaffer. They were married in 1957 in Bellevue, WA. While living in Bellevue, Russ taught at Highland Jr. High, Sammamish High School, and Bellevue Community College. He retired from BCC in 1984.
Russell is survived by his wife Betty of Winthrop; his sister Opal Soitis of East Wenatchee, WA; brother Donald (Mary) Magnuson of TX; and sister-in-law Jan Magnuson of OR. He is loved and missed by his three children and their families - L. Christine Magnuson (William Kann) of Everett, WA; Karen (Frank) Sherwood of Bellevue, WA; and John (Donna) Magnuson of North Bend, WA. His beloved grandchildren are: Russell Herzog, Joseph Magnuson, Emily Sherwood, Jodie Magnuson, Molly Sherwood and Adrienne Kann.
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Paul Shelton
Browsing this site, I see that Russ Magnuson has passed. Sammamish had many top quality teachers, and each student can single out teachers who left a legacy of character that lives on within them. For me, Mr. Magnuson stands tallest in my memory, having guided me through three math classes. He embodied the quality of precision in thinking, always able to fathom a student's problem of understanding, and to enlighten with a precisely targeted clarifying statement. He modeled the finest of professional values of preparedness and rigor that I still find inspirational to this day.
Paul Shelton
Danny Braudrick
Paul, I second your comments about Mr. Magnuson. I had him for geometry. He made the subject interesting and clear (well, as clear as as was possible--my shortfall was head space and timing). But I passed. I am sure he ranked that as one of his career's top success stories.
Danny Braudrick
Laura Fletcher (Lindsay)
I can still visualize Mr. Magnuson in class--and think of him often. He preparead me well for college and life in general--although I hated log rhythms! He really cared about whether you learned the material, and did it in a caring but firm way. A great teacher and role model.
Art Hyland
Mr. Magnuson was indeed a great teacher. Since he always seemed associated with upper level instruction, I managed to avoid his classes until our senior year, when some of us were in his Calculus class. I recall the first day (and little else) as he began discussing some of the terms we were going to learn about. At one point he asked questions, and Dave Oswald naturally had a reasonable sense of what the answer was; Dave always amazed me. At any rate, within the space of just a few minutes, it was apparent I was already three months behind.
Mr. Magnuson knew some of us were in need of special attention, and somehow all of us made it through the gauntlet.