Russ McKinnon

In a heartbeat we said goodbye to Our Rock, Our Russ.

Russ was born November 24,1967, in Missoula and other than a brief time in California, spent his entire life making Missoula a better place for all of us to live. His early life was spent living through many trials and tribulations with his brothers Ron and Mike by his side which would later define the incredible man, brother, husband, father, and loyal friend he would become, and anyone who truly knew him would understand what he went through to get here.

Russ married the love of his life Katy on June 12, 1993, and they would have been married 28 years this June. He became an unconditionally loving father to Meagan in 1998 and Rian in 2001. It will be to these people in his life that he dedicated every day and everything he did to them. He was a fierce family man, brother, friend, coworker, and volunteer.

Russ worked hard for everything he got in this life and became a self-made man to take care of his family. In the early years he started a DJ business with his longtime friend Marc, famously known as Maximum Muzik, and they spent many great years playing music together at weddings and local bars. He was employed by many companies over the years and from these he created many friendships. His last three years were spent at “the best job he ever had” with the family he was blessed with at ATTIC,RRG, he told us this many times. He expected to spend many, many years with these amazing people who loved him for his many talents, his ability to have fun but also work hard.

His personal life was spent making sure his wife and children knew every day how much he loved them, none of us left the house without hearing those words “Love You”. He spent countless hours watching the kids sporting events, which brought him to his involvement in many organizations including Mount Sentinel Little League, Travel Ball teams, founding member of Missoula Youth Football, and Loyola School Sports. He was also a true and passionate GRIZ fan where he was proud to be a board member for many years with the Grizzly Scholarship Association. He was a faithful Rams and Dodgers fan and never strayed from his love of both teams. He loved to talk about sports, and just about every subject which he seemed to have an incredible knowledge for, and let’s face it he enjoyed the “friendly argument” every once in a while. In the past few years, he found a passion for cooking and his amazing BBQ will truly be missed.

As anyone who knew Russ, knew his friendships meant the world to him and he not only found these at work but certainly with either his Lunch Crew at the Mo Club or the Crew at Red’s Bar, plus let us not forget where many of these started at Mr. C’s. There are too many of you to list but you know who you are, and he loved every one of you.

He is survived and will be incredibly missed by his wife Katy; his children, Meagan (fiancé Noah) and Rian; his mother, Elaine Nordin-Doty; brothers, Ron (Jackie), Mike (Denise); his father-in-law, Joe Collins; in-laws Moe (Carson), Kevin (Maggie), Tim (Susan), countless nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles, and our puppy, Riley.

“A golden heart stopped beating, hardworking hands to rest, God needed Russ now, and proved to us he only takes the BEST”. You will be missed beyond words Russ. Our lives were truly blessed for the short time we had you, but you are forever in our hearts. “We Love You the Mostest More, We Win!!”

For Russ, please take time to love one another, forgive every day, cherish every moment with those you love, life is short and can be gone in a heartbeat.

In lieu of flowers please consider donating to a special place Russ had the privilege of working, Opportunity Resources, Inc, he loved them all and they touched his heart in so many ways.

A funeral mass will be held at 10:00 a.m., on Thursday, at the Missoula Catholic Schools Activity Complex located at 1040 S 1st St W under the care of Garden City Funeral Home. We ask that everyone make this a “Maroon Out” for our favorite Griz Fan! Safety guidelines will be followed at the funeral.

The service will be live streamed by clicking the following link below.