Jamie Knox
Rusty, we will all miss the light you spread , faith you lived and many examples of courage.
32 Guest posts
John
Here it is, the day after I laid my best friend to rest and I’m going to use an adverb I never thought I’d use to describe something like this: AWESOME! I was humbled by not only the number of friends that Rusty had, but also by the quality of their character. As his best friend I can say he had the best friends. Although we didn’t always get enough face time, we spoke on the phone most every day and he would tell me about all his friends and how great they were. Believe it or not, Rusty did sometimes like to embellish, but for once I think he may have understated the facts.
Also, as a finance major, I learned about balance sheets and the first listed item is “Assets” which are usually ‘Cash and cash equivalents, Marketable securities, Plant and Equipment, etc. (listed in that order). Basically, all the positive components of wealth. What’s not listed is Family, Friends, Faith, etc. In retrospect, I think Rusty was the richest man I’ve ever known and for the past few days I got to share his wealth. Thank you all for that.
Life is full of ironies. Our favorite song was The Ballad of Curtis Loew by Lynyrd Skynyrd, probably for no other reason than it was one of the first albums we owned, and we played it non-stop. Lyrically a portion goes like this: “…on the day old Curtis died nobody came to pray, ol’ preacher said some words and they chucked him in the clay… on the day he lost his life that’s all he had to lose…” which is a stark contrast to The Ballad Of Rusty Oldenburg whose story is the quite the opposite.
Also, I want to thank Cece (I learned in the church service that Cecelia is a saint) and Russell for always being there for your dad (my friend). He would always tell me when he was having pain how both of you would sit with him and it would go away. If there’s a take-away for the two of you it is that you are who you are because of him (and yes mom of course).
Finally, I want to express my gratitude to Ann Marie for being who you are: his wife, his friend, his rock. You were always there for him and your love was unwavering as was his for you (“man did we do good or what?”).
The thing that made me the “happiest” out of this whole ordeal was knowing that his family was at his side when he passed. Knowing Rusty as well as I did for half a century his statement would have been “How cool is that?”
As ill as he was in the end, he still somehow managed to go out at the top of his game.
My heart is broken yet somehow whole, your friend eternally,
John
Glenn Spilling
Rusty was the most positive person we have ever known. He will be missed.
Joe and Lea Fox Family
It was an honor to know you Rusty. You and your family are a blessing to ours. Rest in Peace my friend.
Ric DeVere
We will forever remember you dear friend. Though we only knew you for barely two years as neighbors, you and your family touched our hearts in so many ways. You will be greatly missed. Ric and Katie
PATRICIA HURST
Rusty was always full of life even when his body was in such a turmoil. He greeted everyone with his smile, & open arms while making you feel like you were part of his family even if he didn't know you personally.
Some favorites memories of meeting him at several Portuguese restaurants in Ludlow, MA he would order half of the dishes on the menu even if there were only 3 or 4 of us, Rusty wanted to make sure everyone had a great time & enjoyed the food as much as he did (thus he would always know everyone in these places).
Many of his daily phone calls to John were to praise his family. He was proud of CeCe & Russell, Jr that they had grown into such well-rounded & caring adults & that AnnMarie continued to work full time while taking care of his physical & mental needs during many traumatic events, he was grateful, admired her & said many times "i'm the luckiest man in the world to have her in my life".
Rusty said many times he was grateful for his life, family, & large circle of friends, he loved each & every one of them.
To our sweet, kind friend you will be dearly missed. Love you, Pat & John
Patti Pop
Rusty was the best neighbor ever! We loved when he would pop over when he heard the music playing. We loved how he would ALWAYS ask if we needed anything. We are going to miss hearing him in the sunroom, his laughter, and most of all, his selfless kindness.
We will see you soon, bud. Love you!!!!
Mari
Rest in peace and fly with the angels my dear friend.
Love, Rick
John
Sincerest sympathy on your loss. He was like a son to me.
Michele Pennie
Russ was always kind, caring and sincere. He will be missed by all who knew him - memories of him are a blessing.
John
Rusty and I have been best friends since grade school. We played hockey together, rode bikes everywhere. Then came skateboards, minibikes, motorcycles, snowmobiles, skiing, fishing, first dates, first crushes, first cars, prom and graduation. Most every Friday night you could catch us watching The Midnight Special at my house. The first concert we went to was Lynyrd Skynyrd (the original members). Somehow the song that always bonded us was their song The Ballad of Curtis Loew. When one of us would hear it always prompted a call to the other. Hopefully over time I’ll be able to smile again whenever I hear it: https://youtu.be/dAeeJOInJ7I?si=lglnuBt4DQFSL8oV
As we moved through life, we many times lost personal face time but still stayed in contact via the phone. Make no mistake, I heard every horse barn story, every fishing tale. wife saga, family story and all his other interactions. When talking about his wife he’d always say: “did we do good or what?” Yeah, we did. I know most of his friends through his stories. Through his own words he truly had an amazing network of friends. He was always telling me about how great everyone was. I was fortunate enough to witness it firsthand when I visited a few weeks ago. The number of people that cared about him, his family and his other friends was nothing short of humbling, but not surprising because that’s who he was.
Of course, everyone that knew Rusty knew that family was everything to him. While visiting right after he was diagnosed twenty plus years ago, I distinctly remember while he and I were watching his kids crawling around, him turning to me and saying I just want to watch my children grow up and will everything I can to make that happen and he did!
Although I have my own pains, they paled in comparison to the amount of pain he endured for so many years. Again, we shared everything, and I can tell you unequivocally the reason he endured that pain was for his family, nd to some extent, for the rest of us. It was never about him.
I’ve often thought the concept of measuring time by revolutions around the sun to be quite arbitrary, but I’ve done 55 of my 61 revolutions with him in my life. I liken it to riding on a merry go round as a kid where they had brass rings that you would try and grab as you went round. The goal being to stay on the ride as long as possible and grab as many rings as you possibly could. Rusty rode that ride as long as he could, grabbing hundreds of rings. These rings were not baubles or shiny trinkets, but rather each and every one of us. I think when it comes to his ride through life, he nailed it! I hope that everyone feels as fortunate as I do to have shared the ride with him. A huge piece of my heart is gone, but I am thankful for every moment. Knowing him as well as I do, I know he had no regrets and cherished it all. I’ll miss picking up the phone to talk about nothing, but I’ll always have the lifetime of memories. As will all of us. Till the last of us draws our last breath he will live within each of us, and I know he’d be just fine with that!
John and Patricia Hurst
Russell Oldenburg Jr.
I think these pictures describe my dad well. He was the toughest man in the world when he wanted to be and when he needed to be but he was always able to flip the switch and be the most kindhearted most loving and accepting person I have yet to meet. I took these pictures three days before he went to heaven and he still had no problem showing off his smile to my mom and I when he was hurting and he wasn’t feeling the best. My role model.
Jeffrey Oldenburg
@ Paula's House in B-town
Jeffrey Oldenburg
Russ, I'm terribly sadden by your passing but take comfort in knowing your pain is gone. You were more like a big brother than a cousin. Your smile, laugh, and love will continue through Russell and Cecilia.
Love You
Jeff
Kerry Pulzone
Rusty is an amazing human that will always be in our hearts forever. We love you! Thank you Rusty for making us laugh and loving us right back! Memories of you will always make us smile and warm our hearts.