Obituary of Russell A. Pepler

It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of beloved husband, father, brother, grandfather, uncle, cousin, and friend Russell “Rusty” Pepler of Liberty, Maine, following a 7-day hospital stay for the surgical repair of an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA).  Born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island on May 7, 1955 to Laure Marcoux Pepler and Francis Pepler, Russell Albert Pepler was the youngest of five siblings. His four older sisters, Frances, Sandra, Janice, and Donna adored their little brother. Rusty grew up in Mapleville, Rhode Island where he attended Our Lady of Good Help Catholic church and grammar school around the corner from his house. His high school years were spent at Burrillville High School, and he was a graduate of the class of 1974. One of his favorite experiences was his trip of a lifetime to Alaska right after high school. He often reminisced about how beautiful it was there, and expressed that he would love to go back someday. His best childhood friend was Donnie Dinges, and the two boys spent a lot of time together, always joking and laughing. After high school, Rusty attended automotive trade school and worked as a garage mechanic early in his career. When Russ was only 21 years old he met and fell in love with Elaine Janice Shaw, a widow with three young children. Elaine’s first husband had died of cancer, leaving her alone to raise her children, but Russ married Elaine on April 15, 1977 and adopted her girls, Laura, Alicia, and Melissa. The family moved from Rhode Island, to Connecticut, and ultimately settled down on a farm in Liberty, Maine where they raised their three children and a slew of farm animals — goats, chickens, cows, horses, pigs, dogs and cats. Russ worked at Bath Iron Works for 34 years as an Operating Engineer. He was a funny, hardworking, and reliable coworker, and he made many lifelong friends during his years at BIW.

During the two years that their family lived in Connecticut, Russ discovered his love for auto racing at Thompson Speedway. So when his family first moved to Maine, and he heard the roar of a race car coming from behind his field, he had to seek out that sound and discovered Jack Light and his family. Jack was a mechanic for Doug Ripley’s racing team, and it didn’t take Russ long to sign on for a lifetime of turning a wrench, helping in the pits, working on and racing his own car for while, and after Jack passed away, following another local driver, David “Boss Hogg” St. Clair down at Wiscasset Speedway. Russ never lost his passion for stock car racing. When Dave retired from driving, Russ started following Dave’s grandson, Josh St. Clair and his racing team. If it was Race Day, Russ could either be found in the pits, flagging from the tower, working the back wall, or watching from the stands. Russ shared his love of racing with his kids, his grandkids, and his great grandkids. He made annual trips to Thompson and Louden Speedways in his RV and always took someone with him to enjoy the experience.

Russ loved to camp and spent summers with his family at Lake St. George in Liberty, Maine. One of his favorite places was being on a lake, which brought back memories of his time as a child at his family’s camp. Russ was elated when his daughter Alicia’s family purchased a lake house on Kingsbury Pond, right on the ATV trails, and gave him a gravel pad (“Rusty Lane”) on the property to park his RV for the summer. Russ was an avid ATV rider, and for the last six summers enjoyed the hell out of trail-riding, his “moose runs”, fishing with the grandkids, and endless pontoon boat excursions searching for fish, loons, and eagles with his family.

Russ was very close to his four older sisters and rotated calling one of them every single Sunday. No matter where he was or what he was doing, he never missed his weekly phone calls. Rusty stayed close with all of his extended family and made frequent trips back down to Rhode Island for family reunions, milestone birthdays, anniversaries, and, of course, sadly, funerals. His lifelong friendship with his cousin Albert, aka “Brother” continued even after Russ moved to Maine. They went hunting, four-wheeling, and took trips to the races together, and when they saw each other it was as if no time had passed.

After his retirement from BIW, Russ spent every morning with the love of his life, Elaine. She would make him his peanut butter and jelly toast and they had their breakfast together watching “Morning Joe.” Then while Elaine was reading or playing her word games, Russ would head down to Dave’s World where he would “shoot the shit” with Dave, Tammy and Josh for at least a couple of hours. Russ was always on the go. He had to be doing something! Whether it was bringing in his wood, working on his beloved project car (his Corvette), or driving all the way to camp just to keep the lawn mowed, he stayed busy all the time.

Russ was a friend to everyone he met, and there’s a whole world of people who are going to miss him, but no one could miss him more than his heartbroken wife Elaine, his daughter Alicia and her husband Dan McCormick, and his daughter Melissa Pepler; his grandchildren Alic Albright, his wife Kayla and their children Bode, Brecken, and Ember; Molli Bennett, her husband Mark and their son Cayden, Logan Esancy and his partner Jae, Mykayla Schartner, her husband Noah and their son Easton, Dashiell Albright and his sons Joseph and Jayden, Cole Libby and his partner Felichia, Kellian Libby and her daughter Allyson, Alyssa McAllian, her husband James and their daughter Ella, Eliana Albright and her partner Matthew Nadeau, Cassidy Libby, and Layla McCormick, and, of course, his beloved sisters Frances LaPorte, Sandra Chausse and her husband Robert, Janice Soderlund and her husband Paul, and Donna Pepler.

Russell Pepler is predeceased by his daughter Laura Lee (Pepler) Hall and his parents Francis and Laure Pepler. Our only consolation is knowing that they will all be waiting for him with open arms when he arrives at the pearly gates, and that he will be reunited with his cherished German Shepherd Jake. A celebration of life will be held at the Liberty Community Hall on December 1, 2024 at 10:00 am. Any contributions of food or flowers should be directed to Tammy Reynolds who is assisting the family with preparations. Please also feel free to share any positive memories, stories, or photos with the family.