From his brother Steve regarding services:
Sunday, June 21st. Service at 1:30, Viewing 2:30 to 4:00-ish and reception at our home immediately afterwards.
We know this is Father’s Day and are sorry to all the fathers out there, but it was the best date to compromise for out of town guests and the funeral home’s other services already scheduled.
Funeral home will be Dawson’s Funeral Home in East Liverpool, Ohio. Their website is www.dawsonfuneralhome.com.
Unsure when Russ’ tribute and message page will be up, so keep checking the site.
Because of the virus, we can’t have the service in our childhood church, so viewing and the service itself will be at the funeral home.
Only the service will need to be limited to 25, so unfortunately that will necessitate it be limited to just family and a few friends. I am sorry for this. The service will be live-streamed on the funeral home’s website and archived there to watch at a later time. Also, for this reason we have chosen to have the service first and then have the viewing for as many folks as would like to come. There is no limit to the number of guests at the viewing.
After the viewing, refreshments and stories will be shared at our house on Meadowbrook Circle, East Liverpool OH.
We will post additional details as they become available.
From the Russ Derek McGee Memorial Fundraiser:
For those of you that knew Russ, you knew his heart for theater and the love he held for those who shared it with him.
His passion permeated every role entrusted to him and his comedic timing and emotional instincts were magic to behold.
He gave everything he had to the theater companies he worked with. Often volunteering to log hours on set builds, ushering shows to support friends and watch productions he loved several times per run, juggling roles in several shows at one time just to stay immersed in the experience and community.
It is fitting Russ took his exit from this world doing what he loved most, surrounded by theater family. He succumbed to a heart attack on the afternoon of June 13th while working on the set for an upcoming production.
In the spirit of our theatrical community, please join me in supporting Russ’s family as they lay him to rest and give what you can to help with his final expenses.
Russ, I love you. You will be deeply missed. -Amanda Borchers
You can click here to donate.
From his brother Steve’s Facebook account:
…my brother Russ died of what is presumed a heart attack. He was working on the set of his latest play, doing what he so loved to do, when he collapsed. His theater mates and the paramedics did what they could, but he could not be revived. I want to thank them for all they did.
We are working on his final arrangements and will post them when we know. I will miss my brother. Pray for my family.
If I were to pick anywhere for my brother to leave this world, it would have been a stage.
After the pandemic hit, Russ performed in an online performance of Teri Foltz’s short play WELCOME TO P.A. The video is available on YouTube.
From John Ray:
Here at Anderson Theatre/Anderson High School we have had a difficult week–Chad Weddle, our Theatre teacher and Artistic Director, had a massive heart attack early Monday. He is in stable condition, and improving every day, but since he and his wife are both public school teachers we are trying to help raise funds for them to cover the large medical costs they will be facing.
Music Theatre International has responded to a comment on my fan page regarding streaming rights.
Behind the Curtain Cincinnati 