Dr. Robert Hilton Russellan honored member of the Dartmouth faculty for 46 years and a devoted member of the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College (United Church of Christ) for 59 years died peacefully on May 6th at the age of 88. A resident of Hanover since 1957, Dr. Russell was predeceased by his beloved wife June, who died in 2014.

Born in 1927 in Oak Park, Illinois, Bob graduated from Austin High School in Chicago in January, 1945. He was a four-year member of the choir and Chief Justice of the student government Supreme Court. He graduated from Knox College in 1949, and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He earned his MA in Spanish literature in 1950 and his Ph.D. in Spanish from Harvard in 1963.

Bob began his career at Dartmouth in 1957. He deeply loved teaching, and, likewise, he was exceptionally admired and loved by generations of students who have expressed their appreciation to him publicly on numerous occasions. In 1958, along with colleagues Elias Rivers and Lawrence Harvey, he co-founded Dartmouth's study abroad program. Based on the success of those initial programs in Spain and France, study abroad at Dartmouth expanded globally, and for more than 50 years thousands of students have had their lives enriched through these eye-opening. Bob personally directed seven programs accompanying students to Spain and Mexico. He also served as a visiting professor at Knox College and the University of San Diego.

Dr. Russell authored numerous scholarly articles on Spanish literature and translated into English two novels by the nineteenth and early twentieth-century Spanish writer Benito Pérez Galdós, Our Friend Manso (Columbia Univ. Press, 1987) and his especially beloved Misericordia (Isidora, 2005). In his own life, Bob exemplified the evangelical compassion and empathy that is manifest in that literary masterpiece.

Bob married June Thayer in 1956 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. When they moved to Hanover, they became dedicated members of the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College; singing in the choir for years and taking great interest in the music programs. They also exercised major roles as Deacons and mentors. Bob continued this work as recently as 2010, mentoring a student in church's Confirmation Class.

Bob and June will long be remembered for their many years of service at the national, state and local levels of the United Church of Christ (UCC). June served on the UCC Board for World Missions, and together they attended many national meetings of the Board and the denomination's General Synods. Together, they supported world missions at the state level where they served on several committees. At the local level, Bob served for many years, several as Chair, on the Grafton-Orange Committee on Church and Ministry whose tasks include approving the ordination of ministerial candidates and the installation of pastors chosen to serve local UCC churches.

In addition to his longstanding service to the church in all settings, Bob was a volunteer at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center from 2004-2009. He was a member of the Modern Language Association and the Association Internacional De Hispanistas.

Bob leaves his sister, Jean Russell Vogel, of Grover Beach, California, and two nephews, David Youngberg of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, and Robert Youngberg of Eugene, Oregon. He also leaves generations of devoted students, with whom he maintained regular contact.

A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, June 4th at 10:00 a.m. at the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College, 40 College Street, Hanover. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College, UCC.