Russell DeSpain

Russell Leo DeSpain, age 100, of Elizabethtown, passed away, Thursday, April 18, 2024, at Sunrise Manor Nursing Home in Hodgenville.

He was born December 9, 1923, in Howardstown. He was a member of Hardin County First United Baptist Church and retired from Firestone in Elizabethtown. Russell served in the United States Navy on the USS Tennessee during WWII, he was in six major battles.

Russell was preceded in death by his by his first wife, Minnie Thompson DeSpain; his second wife, Rosa Witten DeSpain and his third wife, Zella Ann Gent DeSpain; a son, Arley Leo DeSpain; his parents, William Thomas and Nora Alice DeSpain; four brothers, Grady, Harold, Kenneth and Eugene DeSpain; seven sisters, Edna Quillen, Anna Lewis, Mildred Mather Wright, Margie Avalon, Thelma Dean Brown Owens, Alma Lucille Milburn and Carrie Lee Kidd; a step-daughter, Betty Roberts and his step-father Robert M. Perkins.

He is survived by a son, Larry DeSpain of Hodgenville; a daughter, Charlene (Paul) Hines Baumgardner of Hodgenville; a daughter-in-law, Delores DeSpain of Hodgenville; several grandchildren, great-grandchildren; step-grandchildren and step-great-grandchildren; a sister, Ella Rea Watters of California.

Funeral services will be 2 p.m. Saturday, April 20, at Bennett-Bertram Funeral Home in Hodgenville, Bro. Joe Hall officiating. Burial will follow in Red Hill Cemetery.

The visitation will be 3 to 8 p.m. Friday and after 9 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home.

Expression of sympathy may take the form of contributions to the Hodgenville Gideon Camp P.O. Box 25, Hodgenville, Ky 42748 or the charity of your choice.

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