Funeral for Glen Cove's Daniel Russell, 54

A funeral service will be held Monday in Glen Cove for Daniel E. Russell, the city's official historian and former harbormaster.

Russell, 54, who was in poor health, died June 30. His sister, Kathleen Widman of Bay Shore, said Russell killed himself after his mother, Christine Russell, whom he lived with and cared for, died of heart disease earlier that day. "He left a short note that basically said, 'My job here is done,' " she said.

A Glen Cove native, Russell attended the city's public schools and started working part time for the library before he graduated from Glen Cove High School and continued full time after his graduation a year later.

"He loved the city and he loved history," Mayor Ralph Suozzi said. "He had an encyclopedic knowledge of the city's history. He paid attention to things before they disappeared. We cannot replace what we've lost in him."

He became curator of the library in 1981. In 1985, Russell was appointed harbormaster. In 1988 he was hired as an environmental officer, and he held that job until 2004.

After that he did volunteer work for the city until he had a heart attack in 2006, Widman said.

For decades he served as the city's unofficial historian and the City Council earlier this year named him as the volunteer official historian.

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"Everyone who worked with him knew they were getting high-quality work from a resourceful and dedicated person," Suozzi said.

In addition to his sister, Russell is survived by a brother, Gary of Northport.

The service Monday at 11:30 a.m. will be at the Dodge-Thomas Funeral Home at 26 Franklin Ave. in Glen Cove. Burial will be private.