Russell Ronald was a devoted family man who lived all his life in Shap.
He was the youngest son of Mary and the late Russell Ronald and had an older brother, George. He attended Shap Primary School then Ullswater School.
At 16 years old he took up an electrical apprenticeship with what was then British Steel Shap, later to be taken over by Tata Steel. As senior electrical engineer he worked for the company for 50 years.
Russell met his wife, Susan, when they were in their teens. They married in 1978 and had two children, Joanne and Paul. Russell was very proud of all their achievements.
Their first home was in Church Terrace, Shap, after which they bought a field and built Ronill Way 37 years ago.
Russell loved biking to work every day in all weathers. He played football for Shap in his younger days, and was then in the badminton league and played golf with his son, Paul. He was always competitive in everything he did.
Russell and Susan enjoyed lots of holidays together, travelling all over the world. They enjoyed meals out together and fell walking — Russell completed all the Wainwrights.
A love of the races, especially Cheltenham and Cartmel, was shared by all the family.
Paying tribute to Russell, Chris Queen, works manager at Tata Shapfell, said: “Russell’s career at Tata Steel Shapfell, formerly British Steel Shapfell, started in the mid 1970s, when he was sponsored through his electrical apprenticeship at Carlisle Technical College.
“Even from that time, his training records demonstrate a thoroughly conscientious and committed electrician in the making.
“Russell grew to become the site’s senior electrician and a key member of the craft team at Shapfell.
“He took great pride in his work, was reliable, had very little time off, was always safe, and looked after his colleagues’ safety and helped other staff to develop.
“He worked for close to 50 years, far longer than many in the company, and certainly longer than anyone in Shapfell, keeping active and engaged well past the time when many of his colleagues had retired.
“Russell was a true gentleman of the old school — dedicated, competent, and a very accomplished electrician — he knew his way around our complicated and extensive electrics, electronics and process control activities like the back of his hand.
“He will be sorely missed by the whole team here. In conjunction with his family, we will hopefully create a tribute to him at the works so we can all continue to remember Russell and his dedication to the site.”
