Husband, father, grandfather, Vietnam veteran, commercial airline pilot,and Brangus cattle rancher Col. Russell Leslie Williamson passed away peacefully at home on Wednesday, June 12, 2024, at the age of 81, after a second battle with cancer.
Russ was born Aug. 10, 1942, in Plymouth, to Helen and Lester Williamson, and graduated from Etna Green High School, where he was president and salutatorian of his senior class and earned 12 varsity letters in basketball, baseball, track and cross-country. Growing up on the family farm with his siblings Nancy, James and Mike, they raised corn, soybeans, pigs, chickens and about 100 Registered Angus cattle. As a leader in the local 4-H club, Russ started showing Angus steers at the age of 8 and continued until he graduated HS. In 1960, he attended Manchester College for over two and a half years, continuing in basketball and cross-country, before deciding to enlist in the United States Marine Corps.
In September 1962, he enlisted in the Marine Corps as a Marine Aviation Cadet and commenced his flight training at Pensacola, Fla., in February 1963. He received his instrument rating and made his first Carrier landings in the T-2 on the USS Lexington in the Gulf of Mexico. Marine Aviation Cadet Williamson was transferred to Beeville, Texas, where he flew the F-9, TF-9 Cougar and the F-11 Tiger, and finished the advanced training course with instruments, tactics, bombing, air to air gunnery and more carrier landings on the USS Lexington. It was then after 18 months of rigorous training that Russ received his Wings of Gold and his commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps in September 1964. He then joined his first squadron in October 1964 flying the A-4 Skyhawk for VMA-223 at Marine Corps Air Station, El Toro, Calif. In August 1965, Lt. Col. Williamson deployed with VMA-223 to Chu Lai, South Vietnam, where he completed almost 400 combat missions in the A-4 and O-1C.
Upon completion of his tour with VMA-223 in January 1967, Lt. Col. Williamson reported for flight instructor duty at the Naval Air Advanced Training Command at NAS, Beeville, Texas, where he flew the F-9 and TF-9J aircraft and served in the collateral duties of Landing Signal Officer and aircraft carrier landing instructor, logging over 1,500 hours. It was in Beeville that he met his first wife, Kathleen Wilson Sims, and had his only child, James Russell Williamson, in 1968.
Lt. Col. Williamson left active duty in July 1969 to pursue a career with Braniff International Airlines and to fly the F-8 Crusader with the VMFA-112 "Cowboys." Furloughed four months later by Braniff, he then re-entered active duty at MCAS El Toro flying the A-4 for VMA-214. Lt. Col. Williamson again deployed overseas. Upon completion of his second tour was transferred to VMAT-203 at MCAS Cherry Point, N.C.
In June 1973, Lt. Col. Williamson again left active duty to resume his career with Braniff and rejoin the "Cowboys" to see the transition of the F-8 Crusader to the F-4 Phantom in 1976, serve as NATOPS officer, administrative officer, operation officer, executive officer and assume command of VMFA-112 in August 1981.
Lt. Col. Williamson has more than 5,200 total flight hours in fighters and is a veteran of 400 combat missions. His decorations include the Distinguished Flying Cross Medal, 22 Air Medals, Presidential Unit Citation, Navy Unit Commendation, Organized Marine Corps Reserve Medal, Vietnam Service Medal and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.
Braniff International declared bankruptcy in 1982 and he found new employment at Piedmont Airlines, who were expanding and in need of experienced pilots. Piedmont eventually merged with U.S. Airways, where he continued his career until he reached the mandatory retirement age of 60 in 2002. During that time, Lt. Col. Williamson remained in the Marines and was selected to command VMFA-112 in 1982 and then aircraft Group 42 after he was promoted to colonel, and ultimately retired from the Marines in 1986 with 26 years of service.
While still serving as a full-time active commercial airline pilot, and not being one to stand still, Russ purchased his first ranch in Athens, Texas, in 1980, along with a few Registered Beefmaster cows. He had always missed the cattle he had enjoyed as a young man and named his ranch "Skyhawk," the jet that he loved to fly and the jet that took care of him during the Vietnam War. He soon transitioned from Beefmaster to Registered Brangus and eventually settled in Tyler, Texas, on a 200+ acre ranch near Lake Tyler.
Russ has now been a member of the International Brangus Breeders Association (IBBA) for over 30 years and operates a herd of about 200 head registered cattle and has raised numerous, well-known show animals of which the most well-known is Skyhawk’s Presidente. Presidente was 2008 Show Bull of the Year and was 2011 Show Sire of the Year. Russ was also awarded the 2011 IBBA Herdsman of the Year at the Houston International Livestock Show.
Russ lived out his “retirement” doing what he loved, raising Brangus cattle, and was devoted to the improvement of the breed. Some of his best moments were teaching and handing down his knowledge and skills to the younger generation. Russ was a Texas Brangus Breeders Association (TBBA) Board member for four years and served as president. As a testament to his work in the industry, IBBA awarded him the Jake White Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023 to “recognize an individual who has dedicated years to promoting and exhibiting Brangus cattle.”
Russ was preceded in death by his older brother, James; his parents, Helen and Lester; and his second wife of 36 years, Toni Kirklin, from Alzheimer’s.
He leaves behind his always supportive, patient and loving wife, Pam Williamson; his son, James Williamson and his wife Lydia; and three grandsons: Wyatt, Owen and Dean; stepdaughters, Julie King and Lisa Robertson; grandchildren: Carson Williams, Tanner Sult, Anna and Sean King; and two great-children, McKenna Hollis and Weston King. His big sister, Nancy Fites; and little brother, Michael, Williamson, both still reside in Indiana.
Russ was a leader in his personal life, as a Marine, an airline captain and the Brangus community.
A celebration of life will be held at Stewart Family Funeral Home, 7525 Old Jacksonville Highway, Tyler, TX 75703, 903-581-2008, on Saturday, July 13 at 9 a.m. receiving, 10 a.m. service.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Russ’s honor are welcome at the Semper Fi & America’s Fund, thefund.org or the Texas Junior Brangus Breeders Association, Russ Williamson Memorial Scholarship, to Pam Williamson with memo for “Russ Williamson Scholarship Fund” at 13140 CR 285, Tyler, TX 75707.