By Town Crier Staff Report

Billy Russell, a member of the Rotary Club of Los Altos since its founding, and a longtime community contributor, will be honored Thursday with a “Billy Russell Day” by the Rotary club.

Neilson Buchanan, a former chief administrator at El Camino Hospital who has known Russell since 1967, put Russell’s impact in perspective.

“The hospital district is representative of something more that the founding of one of the best community hospitals in the U.S. During the 1950s Billy and other community leaders were instrumental in development of important infrastructure - grammar, elementary, and high school bonds were being passed left and right. Foothill-De Anza was enthusiastically supported.

“And El Camino Hospital District was founded out of several orchards to provide hospital and other health-care services. Billy Russell was one of those pioneers who built infrastructure that we take for granted today.

“I would emphasize Billy’s ability to carefully listen, weigh the “facts” and the ‘intangibles’ and make a decision (and back it up).

“I watched him provide critically important hospital board leadership and direction on behalf of the community during my 21 years.”

Russell, originally from Iowa, owned a haberdashery business in town.

He was on General Douglas MacArthur’s staff as a logistics supply officer during World War II.

Among other volunteer efforts, Russell served with the Los Altos Village Association and the American Legion.