Mahoning Red Cross leader ends ‘fun ride’

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

alcorn@vindy.com

BOARDMAN

“It’s been a fun ride,” said W. Russell Preston on the eve of his retirement as head of the Mahoning Chapter of the American Red Cross.

“I’ve met so many wonderful people. I’ll miss all the relationships I’ve developed over the years,” said Preston, 84, who has been chief executive officer and executive director of the Mahoning Chapter for 16 years.

June 30 is not only the end of an era for Preston, but for the Mahoning Chapter as it celebrates 100 years of existence this year.

The merger of the Mahoning and Trumbull chapters, with its headquarters in Warren, is under way. Preston supports it.

“We’ll be much stronger by combining forces and be able to increase services to both communities. I’m looking forward to the merge,” he said.

Mahoning is not being abandoned, he said. A satellite office here will have space to teach classes and store equipment.

It might seem Preston’s only career was with the Red Cross, but it was just his latest.

“I thought I was going to be here a couple of years,” he said with a laugh.

A self-described “motivated person,” Preston said his parents, Lyle and Nell Preston, were his guideposts. “They set the standards that I’ve tried to live up to all my life.”

Preston graduated from Canfield High School in 1943, where he played football and basketball and was in school plays. The former Vindicator paperboy served two years in the Army Air Corps from 1943 to 1945 and was training to be a pilot when World War II ended. He had earned a private pilot’s license at 13, but never flew after the war. “I didn’t have the time or money in those days.”

In November 1945 he joined the G.M. McKelvey Co. (McKelvey’s) as an extra sales clerk for the Christmas season and became a salesman in the store’s men’s furnishings department. He steadily moved up through the ranks and was promoted to executive vice president and chief operating officer in 1967.

Preston joined the Globe Department Store in Scranton, Pa., in 1973 as executive vice president and general merchandising manager. He became president and CEO in 1976 and chairman of the board and CEO in 1979.

Preston and his partners bought the company in 1987, and when Globe was sold in 1991, he moved back to Boardman where he still lives.

While in Scranton, Preston served on the boards of directors of numerous business and civic organizations. It was there that he began his long association with the Red Cross, serving on the board of directors of the American Red Cross Scranton Chapter.

Along the way, he married the former Karen Foss. They have five children, most of whom live in the area: Cheryl Colton of Girard; William Russell “Rusty” Preston Jr., Patty Adams, and Bradley Preston, all of Boardman; Ashley Preston of Washington, D.C.; and two stepchildren, Stacie Zilavy of Boardman and Amy Held of Kent. They also have 11 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Preston said the core of the Red Cross is its volunteers. “Without them we wouldn’t have a Red Cross.”

The Mahoning Chapter has more than 200 volunteers and a paid staff of five. Because of the volunteers, the payroll can be kept low and more money put into programming, he said.

Preston said he is particularly proud of the relationship the Mahoning Chapter established with its sister Red Cross chapter in Shin Dong, China, through the auspices of Florence Wang.

Wang, a member and former chairman of the board, said Preston turned around the finances from being in the red to being nationally recognized for its ability to raise money.

“He runs the chapter like a business and gets everything done. He does push, but he is like a father figure for whom we have affection and respect,” she said.

“Russ is a dedicated Red Cross professional and a true friend,” said Thomas Will, a member and past chairman of the Mahoning Chapter board.

He has done a great job of involving community professional and civic leaders in the Red Cross and positioning the chapter in a favorable light in the community. He always will be a friend of the Red Cross and consulted on an as-needed basis, Will said.

“I took pleasure in getting up and coming here every day and making sure we were a functioning viable chapter,” he said.