Featured Professional

BY ILONA SAARI

LL CREATURES GREAT & SMALL PEGGY RUSSELL A

Peggy Russell is adoptive mom to injured, abandoned and rescued pigs, horses, donkeys, peacocks, turkeys, quail, rabbits, emus, and has even fostered an alpaca or two.

Along with her husband, John, they have been lovingly rescuing and boarding animals for decades in Altadena/ Pasadena, and now in Ojai, where she and John tend their own private animal reserve.

Born in Aurora, Illinois, Peggy moved to California in 1960 where she went to Alhambra High, then California State University. She loved math and, after college, became a bookkeeper for J and J Equipment Company — which manufactured wholesale lockers for various industries, and which happened to be owned by John Russell. Peggy worked there for a few years, but shortly after marrying a man in the United States Army Honor Guard, she found herself in Germany where she received a top security clearance while working as a secretary to G-1, United States Army Headquarters in Heidelberg. A year later, Peggy was back in Alhambra with her husband and was rehired at J and J Equipment, now Rusco, Inc. Not long after returning to California, her son Derek, was born, but by the time

Derek was two, her marriage had ended.

As Peggy learned more about accounting and took on more responsibility at Rusco, she was promoted to Secretary/ Treasurer of the company. During this time, Peggy and John, who was also divorced, began dating. Their relationship flourished. Not a conventional guy, John didn’t go down on one knee to propose, or take her out for a fancy dinner and surprise her with an engagement ring while a violinist serenaded them at their table. No, he proposed by phone.

But what a proposal it was! Backstory: a friend of John’s who worked at JPL was in charge of two tracking stations used to monitor American spacecraft launched into the atmosphere. One of those stations was in Spain and, when his friend was assigned there, John thought it would be fun to take some time off from his business and tag along. While in Spain, he found himself in a laundromat, missing Peggy. He decided to call her and, right there during the spin cycle (figuratively speaking), he asked her to marry him. After that $400 phone call, John had a fiancé and, presumably, clean clothes. He regards it as a great bargain.

Married and living in Altadena with their blended family (her son, Derek, and his children, Tim and Jenny), Peggy’s and John’s love for animals blossomed as they rescued traditional pets (dogs, cats, birds). The first “wild” animal they rehabbed was Scamper, a baby tree squirrel that was knocked out of his nest by tree trimmers. With the help and advice of their devoted veterinarian, Peggy and John fed Scamper every two hours around the clock, until he survived and became a beloved household pet. Peggy took him to work every day where he became the office mascot, but when the flu felled the office staff, Scamper also came down with a virus. Although touch and go for what seemed like an eternity to Peggy, the little squirrel recovered, but was never the same. Eventually, Scamper became too ill, and emergency surgery by the vet on their dining room table couldn’t save him. Peggy’s and John’s grief was profound and their experience with Scamper only increased their devotion to save as many animals as they could. the many nonprofit organizations Peggy has championed are the Ojai Holiday Home tour (co-chaired) which raises money for the renowned Ojai Music Festival, and the Ojai Festival Women’s Committee as President and Treasurer. She also co-chaired the formation of the Ojai Valley Community Hospital Foundation Guild and is a past treasurer of the Mountain Lion Foundation.

LEFT: Peggy and John Russell. BELOW: Brooke, the mule deer fawn that the Russells rescued.

When the Pasadena Humane Society alerted them that a baby fawn had been abandoned with its umbilical cord still attached, Peggy and John didn’t hesitate. They picked her up and took her to an exotic vet specialist who put her on an IV because she was in a coma. John and Peggy took turns just holding her close for four days, until she woke up. They named her Brooke, took her home and cared and bottle fed her. She continued to live with them and grew into a full-grown mule deer. She went to work with them every day and played with the neighborhood kids. However, with many other health issues, Brooke only lived to be 3-1/2 years old.

While John and Peggy rescued animals, Peggy also served as Secretary of the Board of the Pasadena Humane Society, got funding for a wild life rehab training course, and became a member of the PAT program (Pet-Assisted Therapy) at Huntington Hospital where she visited patients with her dog, Tess. But, her continuing desire to serve her community led Peggy to become President of the Altadena Guild of Huntington Memorial Hospital and Home Tour Chairman, as well as a Board Member of Pasadena Heritage, and co-founder and Board Member of the HMH Huntington Collection Thrift Shop.

Children grown, Peggy, who currently holds a certificate in Wildlife Rehabilitation, moved to Ojai in 1999 with John. They bought a home with enough property to continue rescuing, feeding and caring for abandoned and injured animals until a good home could be found or they could be returned to the wild or until they passed away. In 2015, she and Karen Evenden formed the Ojai Women’s Fund, a collective circle of women that has raised more than $300,000 dollars for deserving Ojai non-profits. But all “work” and no play, makes for a dull girl/boy, so don’t be surprised to find Peggy and John on the tennis court or playing ping pong … or seeing Peggy ensconced in her kitchen. Cooking is another passion. She has received baking Sweepstakes Awards (an honor bestowed only after points have been earned by winning a certain amount of blue and other ribbons) at both the L. A. County and Ventura County Fairs. She has appeared in Better Homes & Gardens Magazine and in a segment of “Calling All Cooks” on the Food Network channel. Her cookies have won the National Land O’ Lakes Cookie Contest and, if you’ve ever gone to the Ojai Art Center’s chamber music concerts and savored her cookies at intermission, you’ll know why.