🌿Russell W Crooks, III (Rusty)🌿

born: 7/4/1980: Columbus, OH - passed: 7/17/ 2022: Portland, OR

Age 42, born an Ohio Buckeye, on the Fourth of July, our Rusty, forever in our hearts, has filled our family with so much love and light, such joyful, playful, good humor, & such a giving heart, ever since the days when he was just a toddler, & then, in a flash, our Little League baseball star! Grad of UAHS & OSU, Columbus, OH; Masters in English, OU, Athens, OH; Dedicated Community College English Teacher in Ohio, and more recently, when living in Oregon, from 2012-2022; Thoughtful Reader; Bravely Honest, Expressive Writer; Conscientious Journalist and Dream-keeper; One of the Creative Musicians and Pilots of the Metamorphic Rock Quattro, known as “The SS StarGarbage”; Avid Gardener, believing deeply in home-made goodness, simple sustainable living, buying & creating locally; Accomplished Cook, always happy to share a meal; Fun-filled Carrier of colorful family memories & special holiday traditions; Seeker of Truth & Justice, that’s proven by life experience & common sense; Dependable Volunteer, in support of social justice causes, local radio, community concerts, & the annual Oregon Country Fair in Eugene; Experienced Camper, Hiker, Explorer & Kayaker, deeply in love with the immense natural beauty of our Pacific NW, with its amazing parks, shorelines & hidden treasures, where he was always so happy to share its wonders with fellow travelers on this earthly journey, (including his loving & well-loved cats, Zeke & Kita)!!

We were all hit hard, July 17th, 2022, when our beloved Rusty, son, brother, uncle, nephew, cousin and dear friend, with his crazy sense of humor and loving gifts, the one who blessed us all beyond measure, without knowing it, died tragically, by suicide, in Portland, OR. (Beware of Covid Isolation and Collapsing Ceilings!)

We absolutely know that he tried valiantly, with every ounce of energy he had left, to bring us JOY & LAUGHTER & to POUR OUT his precious LOVING HEART, while he was still here, in the flesh, with us! We know, and attest, without doubt, that he accomplished that mightily!

Finally we have learned to let go & say humbly, GOD’S GOT THIS! Our living, loving God, who created him, who fights for us, who dispels all darkness, was right there in Rusty’s darkest hour, with unfathomable love and mercy, Our Good Shepherd, bringing light, being there to rescue him, carry him, & lead him home.

Rusty left all of us, who knew him best, filled to overflowing with precious, irreplaceable memories. We thank God for creating him, and for blessing us with the treasured gift of his life!

His Funeral Mass was August 4th, 2022, in Columbus, OH, concelebrated by our beloved priests and longtime, faithful friends, Fr. Vinny McKiernan, CSP, Fr. Dan Millisor, & Dcn. Tom Rowlands, all welcoming us at the OSU Saint Thomas More Newman Center, where Rusty had been baptized. Two of our dear Polish cousins, American citizens for over 20 years, Barbara Albrycht Lorenc & Agnes Albrycht Guzik, created the Mass programs, and Barbara, Uncle Bernie Brush, & Godfather, Uncle John Crooks, helped with the readings. Rusty’s older brothers & sisters filmed short video eulogies & created a very special cross for the top of his casket. Following the funeral, a light lunch & a “Remembering Rusty” picture video, compiled by sister-in-law, Terri Gabriel, were shared, at The Boat House at Confluence Park.

Rusty’s green burial, August 5th, 2022, was 1hr. away, in Dayton, OH. He was buried in a simple wooden casket at Calvary Cemetery, St. Káteri Preserve. Saint Káteri Tekakwitha, known as "Lily of the Mohawks," is the patron saint of Indigenous Peoples, Native Americans, the environment, traditional ecology, care of creation, and orphans.

The morning of burial, we glued a very long, paper, Slavic Tree of Life design, along both sides of his casket, grateful for the creative expertise of Jeff Brush & helpful advice of Meredith Carr, Rusty’s former wife. Mother, Carol, wrote boldly in permanent black marker, at it’s foot, “MIGHTY HOLY IMMORTAL ONE +HAVE MERCY ON US+ AND ON THE WHOLE WORLD” Family & friends from near & far joined us, including Rusty’s special friend, Dre Seider, still recovering from the devastating effects of GBS, arriving with her father, from WI. Stephanie Dean brought mementos from places Rusty loved: Hug Point & Cannon Beach, OR. Cousin Adam Edwards played guitar & led us in singing “I will raise you up” by Josh Groban, we lit a special Polish “gromnice” candle, Aunt Nancy brought fresh strawberries & coconut poundcake, just like we had all shared, so joyfully, on the 1980, 4th of July morning, when he was born! Cousin Adam closed our celebration of Rusty’s life, with the traditional Cursillo song of thanksgiving & joy, ”De Colores”.

The epitaph on the fieldstone, now marking his *Dayton, OH, grave, says: “Believe in Love & Aim for Home”

Rusty is buried right next to the space chosen by mother, Carol, and her faithful friend & sweetheart, for over 30 years, Elwin Falor, who had just died and been buried there, a year earlier.

Rusty continues to warm our hearts with his love! We remembered him in Ohio’s Hocking Hills in late October, 2022, with trips to Ash Cave & a 3-night stay-over, at a Cabin Retreat, sharing memories, music and quiet reflection, around our continually burning Campfire. It was lit & tended for Rusty, also remembering dear ones, gone before, and including the many generations of our indigenous peoples, who so loved and honored this land!

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*Columbus, OH, Memorial Benches

Thanksgiving, 2023, we were so grateful when Rusty’s Memorial Bench was finished at last, and placed at Quarry Trails, one of our newest Columbus, OH, Metro Parks, straight across the Scioto River, and just a 5 min drive from our family home. His bench is there now, welcoming all, to come & be blessed, next to the singing waters of Millikin Falls, where natural beauty, all around, is transformed with the colors of each passing season! His bench holds a quote, core refrain of a favorite song that mother, Carol, first heard sung way back in 1972. (After all, we are ALL ONE FAMILY, countless generations, living on this planet Earth!) :

“All I Ask of You is Forever to Remember Me as Loving You”.

Song composed by Benedictine Monk, Gregory Norbert, Weston Priory, VT, featured on album “Wherever You Go” speaking to Jesus' love for his friends, symbolizing that even in leaving, his love remains within them.

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In 2025, before Rusty’s July 4th birthday, another memorial bench was placed, this time at Northam Park, close to all our UA family homes, in view of those Little League baseball fields, and where we always went as a family to watch fireworks with Rusty, on every one of his Fourth of July birthdays! The bronze plaque, with that Northam Park bench, has words from Rusty’s song, Ancient Spaceship: “Starlight always on for us, even in the darkest places…TRUST”

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Our Beloved, Irreplaceable, Rusty! Son & 5th born, of Carol Crooks & Russell W Crooks, Jr. (Jann); Dear Brother of Callie Crooks DiBenedetto, Amanda Crooks Fountain (Chris), Justin Crooks (Terri), & Ben Crooks (Paige); Proud Uncle of Tyler, Neil, Vito, Tillie, Marissa, Tad, Isabella, Oliver, Pearl, (+Isaac David), Samuel & 3 Great Nieces, Jordan, Kendall & Quinn Johnson (and in 2025, Great Nephew, Weston Johnson). Deeply Loved & Missed by Many Grieving Relatives, Edwards, Brush, Crooks, Fountain, Johnson, DiBenedetto & Albrycht families: 7 Aunts, 6 Uncles, 18 Cousins, as well as Countless Dear Friends, Fellow Musicians, & Colleagues, in multiple states!

No one we have ever loved leaves us, they live on through us. Shine it forward! 💛🔦

❤️🧡💛🤗💛🧡❤️

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We continue to be comforted by these words of Pope Francis: “There is a mysterious solidarity in Christ between those who have already passed to the other life and we pilgrims in this one: our deceased loved ones continue to take care of us from Heaven. They pray for us, and we pray for them and we pray with them.”

The ending only, of another prayer written by Pope Francis:

“… May your love (O Lord,) inflame my whole being from life until death. I believe in you, I hope in you, I love you. Amen.”

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Thoughtful Meditation printed on the front of a card mailed to Carol Crooks by her very dear, long-time friend, Toni Gallagher:

And the Wind said: "May you be as strong as the Oak, yet flexible as the Birch; may you stand tall as the Redwood, live gracefully as the Willow; and may you always bear fruit all your days on this Earth.”