Darryl Russell was a high school dropout and got into his share of trouble as a kid, but he spent the last 30 years of his life trying to keep kids in school and out of trouble.
Russell warned them to stay away from alcohol, drugs and gangs or they would “end up in a place they’d never want to be,” said Bryant Alaniz, a student at Aurora West College Preparatory Academy, where Russell worked.
Russell, one of the best-known employees at each of the Aurora schools where he had worked, died Jan. 5 from cardiac arrest he’d suffered while on his motorcycle, his family said. He was on the bike Christmas Eve near City Park and was found on the steps of Loyola Catholic Church, just west of the park. He was 57.
Family members don’t know whether someone pulled him to the steps or he got there himself, said his sister Debbie Taylor of Fairfield, Calif.
Russell worked security, taught martial arts, supervised the hallways and cafeteria, watched over the kids at athletic events and was DJ for dances. But mainly he was unofficial counselor to hundreds of kids at the various schools.
“He would be brutally direct with our kids,”said Ellie Reiser, a teacher at West Middle School, where Russell had worked. “He changed so many kids.”
Russell was the one they went to when they were having a bad day, needed a kind word or were in some kind of trouble.
At 6 feet 2, with a bulky frame and huge voice, Russell was an imposing man. Kids came in droves to his memorial service, many wearing black T-shirts with the message “RIP Mr. Russell.”
Hundreds of e-mails, cards and letters came to the family, with such messages as “You scolded me when I needed it,” or “You told me I could do anything I put my mind to.”
When kids did well or needed a boost, he’d buy the biggest hamburgers he could find. “They were like a loaded Big Mac on top of another loaded Big Mac,” said Tyree Phifer, a student at Aurora West. “I trusted him and would rather talk to him than a teacher or parent. He was nonjudgmental,” said De’jah Travis, also at Aurora West.
“He was definitely strict,” said his son Donte Broussard of Denver.
Russell had nicknames for most kids, and they had several for him, such as “Papa D” or “Big Russ.”
Darryl Vincent Russell was born in Denver on April 10, 1953, and attended East High School. In addition to his sister and son, he is survived by another son, Darryl Harris of Atlanta; two other sisters, Rhonda Conner of Centennial and Eve Lee of Denver; and three grandchildren.
