Ron Russo ’55 says he was very fortunate to go to La Salle thanks to the taxpayers of the town of Johnston, Rhode Island.  You see back in the 1950s Johnston did not have a high school and so the town – then largely a rural farming area – told the residents to pick a school and it would pay the expense of the education.

“It was a wonderful bit of luck for this kid who grew up on a family farm working the fields making $18 a week during the summer,” said Ron in a recent phone call from Key West, Florida, one of the places he now calls home.  “I grew up in a very Italian household.  My father’s family was from a town named Prata Sanita, not far from Naples and my mother’s Maccioni clan from a town called Quacino not far from Rome.  My parents were second generation Americans who worked all their lives to make sure that they kids got a good high school and college education.”

“The most vivid memories I have of La Salle are of Brother Cornelius Peter or ‘sneaky Pete’ as we referred to him – kids would be walking down the corridors goofing around and Brother Cornelius would seem to appear out of no where to set us straight,’ said Ron.  “I remember Brother Paul whom I had for French and Brother Edward for home room – he was one of my favorites.”

Having skipped a grade earlier in his school days, Ron was a year younger than most of his classmate but it did not hinder his academic record as he was always on the honor roll and was an honor graduate in 1955.   “I was a good student and I truly liked La Salle and all the Brothers.”

On the other hand, his age put him in somewhat of a disadvantage in athletics.  “I tried out for varsity baseball and didn’t make it but Brother Paul made me the manager of intramural baseball,” said Ron.  “My fondness for baseball never waned and then after college, when I was in the Navy, I began playing regularly and it has never stopped.”

If fact, Ron now plays in adult baseball leagues and sports a .400 batting average while playing in about 100 games a year in various locations ranging from Maryland to Cuba to Florida to Cooperstown, N.Y. to New Orleans to London, Ontario to Moscow.   “My teams play in three or four tournaments, about 40 games, here in Florida during the five months of winter and 60 games the rest of the year when I am back in Maryland.”

Ron spoke fondly of his years at URI where he graduated with a degree in civil engineering, following in the footsteps of an uncle. 

Ron joined the Navy upon graduating from URI because he wanted to fly.  He did not have to travel far upon enlisting as his first assignment was Officer Candidate School in Newport, RI.  Then he was off to pre-flight school in Pensacola, FL and then to Corpus Christi, TX for advanced aviation navigation school where upon graduation, he became an airborne navigator. 

Oddly enough, Ron still wound up close to home with his base being Quonset Point from which his  C-130, VX-6 squadron flew research and support missions to Antarctica in the southern hemisphere during the winter and to the North Pole in the northern hemisphere during the summer.  “I was active duty for four years and 16 more in the reserves retiring with the rank of full commander,” said Ron.  “On the way to and from Antarctica we would stop in New Zealand and play baseballs games against the Kiwis.”

When Ron completed active duty in the Navy, he moved to the Washington, DC area, where he met his wife Bobby who was working for the FBI at the time, and worked for the Department of Housing and Urban Development during which time he earned an MBA at American University.  From there he worked in the Boston Redevelopment Authority and later with the Washington, DC Redevelopment Agency.

Those experiences made Ron decide to become an entrepreneur and with a $5000 loan from his mother and another $5000 loan from his mother in-law, he began a development business in Upper Marlboro, MD that spanned from there to the greater DC area and the Chesapeake Bay to Baltimore to Florida.  His business has flourished and he continues it to this day.   The Russos have a son Mark who is the head PGA golf professional at Woodmore Country Club in Prince George’s County in the DC area and a daughter Elena who is a television personality with Comcast Cable also in the DC area.

Ron and Bobby are looking forward to being back in Rhode Island in mid-May this year for Ron’s 50^th URI Class Reunion and plan to visit his old high school while in town.