Joseph A. Russo, 62, of Windham, NH, died unexpectedly Saturday, April 9, 2011, at the Parkland Medical Center, Derry, NH. Mr. Russo was born in Lawrence, MA, on December 11, 1948, a son of Ann (Persichetti) Russo and the late Joseph P. Russo. Joe had resided in Windham for the past 22 years, formerly living in Andover, MA. He was employed as Vice President of Business Development for Eckman Construction Co. in Bedford, NH. Joe was a member of the Commercial and Investment Board of Realtors, of Advertising Specialities, Inc. and served on the board of NeighborWorks.
Joe had a "bigger than life" personality, always willing to help others. He was a friend to all who knew him. Joe had a wide variety of interests including vegetable gardening, cooking, brewing beer and making wine. He especially enjoyed clamming on Cape Cod and sharing the fruits of this labor with family and friends and a great Chinese food buffet. On a warm summer night, he would put the top down on the Cabrio convertible, crank up his ZZ Top tunes, and head out to watch the sunset.
He is survived by his wife, Mitzie Kocsis of Windham; his daughter, Kimberly Russo of Londonderry, NH; his mother Ann Russo of N. Andover, MA; his brother, James Russo and his wife Rebecca of Pelham, NH; and two nephews Jimmy and Nicholas Russo. Joe was predeceased in 1974 by his sister, Barbara Russo. He also will be greatly missed by all who loved him, along with his Maltese, Hoover, who enjoyed sharing Dad's people food and evening Tostitos snacks.
Following cremation, calling hours wer held on Thursday, April 14th from 4 - 7pm in the Peabody Funeral Homes and Crematorium, 290 Mammoth Rd., Londonderry. A celebration of Joe's life followed at 7:00 pm in the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the American Heart Association, P.O. Box 3049, Syracuse, NY 13220-3049, to the NH Food Bank- Dept. F, P.O. Box 9510, Manchester, NH 03108-9510 or to the Animal Rescue League of NH, 545 Route 101, Bedford, NH 03110.