Tribute to dad
He almost made it. Russell Wyatt would have been 100 on June 20, 2026. Alas, he just gave out and died on Sept. 8, 2025. All my life I knew him as dad.
What do you say about the life of an honest man who loved the Lord and his family, was gracious and generous to others? He was a good one.
My first memory of “working” with Dad is when I was 4 years old. He would load square bales of alfalfa hay on the back of his pickup and take me along to feed the cows. Once in the pasture, he stood in the back of the pickup while I “drove.” He threw one bale out at a time and bucked it as he dropped it so the binder twine would break and the bale broke into sections. Dad put the pickup into low gear so it moved slowly. My job was to steer and gently keep turning the steering wheel. Farm kids begin to learn work ethic as they are shown early that they are a part of the farm or ranch operation. This trait follows them through life, whether they are working in agriculture or not.
In a conversation when I was about 5, dad told me his goal was to own 100 cows and that someday he wanted to be an appraiser. As many say, a dream without a goal is just a dream. When Dad was able to do it, he got a real estate license, then became a realtor, and finally, an appraiser. His younger son, Patrick, now owns that business.
My older brother Jerry and I got to ride along with Dad sometimes when he went to the livestock sale barn. Whether both of us kids went on the same day or went separately, we always compared notes about how many bottles of pop Dad bought us.
During the Covid mess dad finished writing stories that he had worked on over the years and published the book, “The Farmer Goes to Town,” with many details of his life’s work. Perseverance and recalling memories were the lessons here. He had one gift I can’t match and that is his memory. As shown in his book he could recall every job he ever had, how much he was paid, each vehicle, including tractors, he owned and what he paid. He and his wife followed that with a companion book in 2023, “The Farmer Meets the City Girl.”
Although dad taught me much more, I certainly learned the lessons of work ethic, goal setting, persuasion and perseverance.
Readers may recall his name as being associated with Campion Academy in Loveland, Colo., from which he graduated. He was a generous donor to several students at academies over the years.
Go rest high on that mountain, dad. Your work on Earth is done.
Memorials in Russell’s honor can be mailed to the Pioneer Museum, PO Box 361, Hot Springs, SD 57747.
Sanders can be contacted through peggy@peggysanders.com.
