Russell Edward Macomber Jr., RMCS-United States Coast Guard-Retired, 85, of Orange City, FL, and originally of Tampa, FL, passed at his home on July 1, 2009.
Russell attended and graduated from Jefferson High School in Tampa, FL and after retiring from the US Coast Guard, he returned to Tampa and graduated with an AA Degree from Tampa College in accounting and attended the 1st Baptist Church in Land O Lakes. He was a member of VFW Post # 8093 and the American Legion in DeBary, FL.
He is survived by his wife, Gertrude Godwin Macomber of Orange City, FL; two sons; Bruce G. Macomber and his wife, Susan of Ormond Beach, FL and Mikacle Macomber and his wife, Darlene of Clarksburg, NJ; three daughters, Andrea Frank and her husband, Larry of Ormond Beach, FL; Robynn Fisher and her husband, Kevin of Sevierville, TN and Carol Heath on a mission to Haiti with husband, Tim; seven grandchildren and five great grandchildren.
Services are scheduled for 11:00 AM, Monday, July 6, 2009 at 1st Baptist Church of Land O Lakes, FL , 5105 School Road, Land O Lakes, FL 34638. The family will receive friends at the church from 10:00 AM until service time. Graveside Military Honors will follow the services at the 1st Baptist Church of Land O Lakes Church Cemetery.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers, to please make a donation to Health Care Odyssey Hospice, 149 South Ridgewood Ave, Daytona Beach, FL 32114 C/O Jennifer Noga or Volusia Honor Air, P.O. Box 1346, Deland, FL 32721 in the memory of Russell Edward Macomber Jr.
Our sincere sympathy goes out to the whole family. You’re in our thoughts and prayers.
Daddy,
You will be missed…in more ways than you could ever imagine!
a&l
I will always treasure the the times we were together.There will be times again when we will meet on the Golf Course Russell. Save me a tee time ok? To my cousin Ginny and family,I am sorry I will not be able to attend the funeral and I hope you will forgive me for that, but travel over the holiday is impossible from San Francisco. My prayers and Love to all forever….CUZ
I will miss you so very much, but will continue coming down and seeing Ginny and all my wonderful Macomber relatives as often as possible. I will be there Monday to shed wonderful memories and tears with all those who love you and will miss you. Eloise
Mike, sorry to hear of the loss of your father. Our sincerest sympathies to you and your family.
Larry and Andrea, our thoughts and prayers are with you.
Pepaw, I’ll miss you more than you’ll ever know. But I’m happy your in a better place. I’ll always love you.
Mike & Family,
Our deepest sympathy in your time of sorrow. We will continue to keep all of you in our thoughts and prayers.
The Wills Family
In re-reading the messages, I need to correct the wording of my message – should have read —
“I will be there Monday to share wonderful memories and shed tears of sorrow.”
My love and prayers are will each and every one.
Eloise
Carol: I am thinking of you and your family in this difficult time. I know your father will be missed by all. … I keep wonderful memories of the times I spent with you at your home back when we were in school.
Dad, I’ve spent many hours with you over the last 3 years. Some were harder than others. These last days were some of the hardest but very special. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and tears. We will take care of your favorite girl. We love you Daddy
After all these years I remember Russ as a fellow shipmate. If I’m correct we served together on the CGC
Androscoggin (WPG 68) at Miami Beach in the early 1950’s. Sorry for the family’s loss. I just wanted the family to know that some of us are still around and remember our buddies of the past.
Not only has our country lost a great patriot but we have all lost a great friend and his family has lost a loving father and husband.
I don’t have the words that can express my sorrow but his entire family knows that our prayers are with them.
Russ, please save us all a place in Heaven with you!!
Rest in Peace and God Bless.
Bruce and Susan,
Bruce,I can still remeber meeting your father,oh,how many yeats ago,
Regrets,
Phil
Dad –
I don’t know how everyone did it, but you will be getting a great send off. Hoping you are going to watch it. I mean, come on, how many fathers get catfish, ribs, and cuban sandwiches cooked in their honor? Your wishes were honored and there will be a full military service with even a couple of Coasties to do the flag. The video Susan’s friend did is wonderful. Your grandson sends his love and we will be reading the letter he wrote that I read to you last week, plus the Hero letter. I have attached it to share with those who cannot be there. As always, you will be as spoiled rotten at your service as you were in life. But just know that we love you and will miss you so much.
Except for your namesake, the apprentice pirate, there is no one left to argue and trade barbs with. Your grandson says I need to practice on Cecily before I start on him, but he does not realize I learned from the master. I will miss that very much. Mom will be taken well care of, as I have promised, so go play golf, catch some bass, and as the Brad Paisley song says, find a park bench where you can sit and wait for the rest of us to catch up with you. We love you and we will think of you often.
Bruce & Susan
Blessings to you and your family during this time of loss.
Following is a letter my son, Russell, dad’s namesake, wrote in his honor about being in the military. My father, until just recently, never talked about the war. When he finally began to talk about it, you now understood all the years of nightmares that man had. He carried so much guilt, and I think we finally convinced that the guilt was not his. He was a Naval sailor, following orders from his superiors, which is as it should be in the military. My dad thought this letter was a wonderful testament to all the men and women that gave their lives, their bodies, and their souls in such terrible wars, and I honestly feel this letter helped him come to some peace over his role in the whole conflict.
—–Original Message—–
Sent: Sun, Dec 28, 2008 3:00 pm
Subject: pepaw the hero
Thought I would share something I was writing in my journal today.
Often we are asked questions regarding heroes. Who is a hero? What is a hero? Does one have to be famous to be a hero? I consider John McCain a hero, but if he had never come into the public eye as a politician, would he be any less a hero?
The definition of a hero fell into place for me one morning when I was blessed with the opportunity to drive my grandfather to the airport. He was flying to our nation’s capital that day to be honored as a World War II veteran. While I was happy that he was able to make the trip, I guess I never realized how his accomplishments transcended what I know about the man I call Pepaw.
It all boils down to a singular moment for me. My father, Aunt Andrea and I were in the airport going up the escalator, mainly concerning ourselves with pointing Pepaw in the right direction and making sure he had his cane, never considering th at he was perfectly capable of handling this on his own. We were all making sure he stepped off the escalator properly when:
“PRESENT ARMS!”
An honor guard awaited us at the top, and no sooner had Pepaw taken his first step when they raised their rifles to the salute position. I suppose they were doing this for all the vets, but had you been there you would have seen that appeared that it was all set up for him. As we walked through the honor guard you could see the respect on the faces of those in uniform. It is one of those unexpected moments in life that I will remember forever.
The brief description I have just rendered does no justice to the poignancy of the moment. Here were total strangers, men and women who had never before laid eyes on my grandfather. Yet because of who he is and what he has done, they were showing him honor and respect.
Russell Edward Macomber left home at the age of seventeen to face death for all of us. He fought for our freedom. We gather on Christmas, exchange presents and eat bountiful feasts, and I never stopped to think that it is all paid for in blood by proud and courageous young men like my grandfather. I love my Pepaw dearly, but I never considered thanking him for his actions on behalf of his country. His own grandson never realized what a hero was in his own family and it took the respect of total strangers to bring it to my attention.
Well, thank you Pepaw. You fit my definition of a hero in every sense of the word. I am proud of you and I love you. I don’t know that I will ever accomplish something in life that will cause others to salute me and honor me. But it would be an honor for me just to have the respect of the hero in my life, the patriarch of his family, my Pepaw.
Love
Russell Yale
Pepaw…
I cannot put into words the special place that you hold in my heart…you will always be there, until I see you again! I love you!
Your girl, Summer
I hope you know how much I will miss you and have missed the entire family over the last seven months in Costa Rica. You were the only grandpa Ive really known and will always be in my heart. Kenneth sends his love to you and wishes he could be here also. We’ll love you forever and never forget!
The Cordero’s
Mom, wanted you to know we have received many calls and notes from Larry’s family and our friends – many who had met you and Dad at sometime over the last 40 years. This is the letter I had sent out to them along with photos of of him on the Honor Air trip.
Dear all…….
….. Losing a parent is not easy and many of you have been through this already….
but I wanted to share with you that my family lost their patriarch this week.
My dad was 85 and lived a very good life. Mom, Ginny, and he were married for 64
years. They had five children (I’m the oldest daughter.). There are seven grandchildren
and 5 great grandchildren. They all loved Pepaw.
The USA also lost a patriot. My dad was a good American. He loved his country, fought for it and served it well. He knew that even with the current issues we live in the best country in the world.
The highlight of the last year was his trip with the Volusia Honor Air to Washington, D.C. He traveled
with other WWII veterans to visit the memorials. He came back after a very long day with a smile on his face – standing the tallest we had seen him in years as he walked past the color guard.
Now he will celebrate the Fourth of July from a new viewing stand – heaven.
Please think of my dad, Russell, Pepaw……as you celebrate July 4, 2009.
Just wanted everyone to know what a great veteran their country has lost.
Andrea & Larry
Pa, Hope you enjoyed all the fireworks. It must have been really special to see the whole USA lit up for it’s birthday. Send photos!
a&l
To all of the Macomber family…please know that my love & prayers are with you all during with time. I will truly miss my “sidewalk supervisor”! It brings me great joy to know how much Mr. Macomber LOVED his pond. It is one of the most special ones that I have built. I will never forget that day in Nov ’07, when he put his arm around me and said “Kathy, I only hope that I live a year to enjoy the pond you are going to build for me!” He got his wish plus some. How many of the grandchildren did he coax over to walk near the pond & get wet from the scarecrow sprinkler, while he laughed?! I am sorry that I am out of town and cannot be there to celebrate this wonderful man’s life with you all! Mrs. Macomber, I will stop by to visit you when I return home in 2 weeks. Hugs to you all, Kathy (Tropical Water Gardens)
Our thoughts and prayers with you and your family. He was a true American patriot and I was proud to have met him.
Our deepest sympathy. Love and prayers to you and your family. Anita Warr’s Family
To the Macomber family…I know what it is like to lose a dad. It is just so hard. I am so happy you all have “precious memories”. I too have great memories of our Land ’O Lakes days and our wonderful friends. May God grant you His peace.
OUR DEEPEST SYMPATHY,OUR PRAYERS AND THOUGHTS ARE WITH YOU AND YOUR FAMILY…THE NESS FAMILY
Hi Daddy,
I just wanted to say goodbye again – I will be going back to Haiti tomorrow morning. I am doing good – I’ve had wonderful days with Mom, treasures for my heart. I miss you, you are not in any of your usual places and I haven’t heard the mattress story in a few weeks. Thank you for waking me up so I could pray with you and hold your hand. I took your flannel bathrobe so when my heart hurts because I miss you so much I can wrap up in it. Thank you for the beautiful necklace – I will cherish it. Ask God to keep a special watch on Mom – she’s does pretty good some days, but some are really hard. I’ll miss her, but we both know I have to go. God still has things for me to do. My Sunday nights won’t be the same because my Google Talk buddy is in heaven, but I can talk to you with my heart.
I Love You, Daddy.
Daddy, Where are you? It has been 1 month and it is not getting any easier. I miss you so much. You would have laughed yesterday, I actually got down on my hands and knees and cleaned out your pond. I am taking good care of mom, she misses you so much. You would be proud of her paying bills and doing finances along with keeping such a beautiful home. The cards and donations are incredible in your honor. Alot of good service guys will be honored and alot of people will die in DIGNITY as you did. We all miss you and love you. Save us a spot next to you in heaven.
Dad, I am back home to Tennessee, left mom in very good hands as I promised I would. You are a STAR, you are in the WW11 brochure. Alot of money was sent in your honoe so more veterans could go. Please send more Angels down to help some of the family members to be at peace like the rest of us. Love you.
Hi Daddy,
It’s my birthday and my missed you so much today. If I never told you,thanks for the fishing pole you bought me – I think I was 12. I wish I could hold you hand one more time.
Happy Birthday, Daddy. I love you.