Home City: Yakima, WA
Crash Anniversary: May 29, 2014
Russ Bartlett was a husband, father, brother, and grandpa to a large family who loved him very much. He had lived a life that included surviving two tours in Vietnam, serving as a police officer and corrections counselor in Washington and Oregon for more than 3 decades, and being a “retired” barber that many went just to talk with. Russ had been married more than 50 years and enjoyed every day being around his four kids and his many grand-kids. He was one of the more active 73 year-old people a person could meet, enjoying cycling, running, and playing any sport his grand-kids would play. Not only active in his own life, he was active in the lives of his family. This made it all the more shocking and gut-wrenching when his life was taken much too soon on the morning of May 29, 2014.
Walking down a sidewalk toward a charity event while his car was being serviced, Russ was hit from behind by a young woman driving a motor home at 9:30 am. The impact of the motor home severed Russ’s spine, killing him instantly before sending him about 50 ft through the air where he slid to a stop along the sidewalk. As horrified onlookers rushed to help, the drunk driver in the motor home attempted to flee, but was apprehended within minutes by state police who had been driving right behind her when she struck Russ. The woman had both drugs and alcohol in her system. Because of her history, instead of the usual bare minimum sentencing, she was sentenced to 14 years in prison for her crimes.
Many of Russ’s family still struggle to cope with how and why his life ended so soon, but many are also currently active with M.A.D.D and the Washington state legislature, working to change state and federal laws when it comes to drunk driving felonies and sentencing. While Russ’s life ended way too soon, his family hopes that his legacy will still instigate many changes in how states deal with these issues, and on the importance of people making wiser decisions behind the wheel of a car.
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