Funeral for Youngstown Fire Department battalion chief scheduled Thursday

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Ronald Russo, the longest-serving firefighter in the Youngstown Fire Department, will be laid to rest later this week.

Calling hours are scheduled from 3 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Rossi Brothers & Lellio Funeral Home in Boardman, and a prayer service followed by a funeral is scheduled for Thursday morning. Prayers will be at 9:30 a.m. at the funeral home, and the funeral service will be at 11 a.m. at the Poland United Methodist Church.

Russo, a fire department battalion chief, died Friday after a motorcycle accident in Ashtabula County. Russo, 64, of Poland, was riding a motorcycle Friday afternoon in Saybrook Township when he collided with a van at the intersection of state Route 45 and North Bend Road. Russo was life-flighted to University Hospitals in Cleveland, where he died.

In an interview with The Vindicator and a tribute in Monday’s newspaper, family members remembered Russo as a dedicated father, husband, grandfather, and brother, and as someone who always put others ahead of himself. Russo served with the fire department 37 years.