Dr. Jackie Paul Russell

Visitation and funeral services to celebrate the life of Dr. Jackie Paul Russell, 77, will be held Friday, September 30, 2022, at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 2565 Airline Drive, Bossier City, Louisiana. Visitation will be held from Noon-1:00 p.m., with the funeral at 1:00 p.m. A reception for family, friends and church family will follow in the Fellowship Hall. Officiating the service Friday will be Reverend Christopher J. Yeager. A second service will be held in Gatesville, TX at 2:00 p.m. Monday, October 3, 2022, at Scott’s Funeral Home, 2425 E. Main Street, Gatesville, Texas. A visitation will be held one hour prior. Jackie will be laid to rest at Ater Cemetery, 145 Co Road 107 Ater, Texas.   

Jackie passed away Sunday, September 25, 2022, in Shreveport, Louisiana. He was born on August 19, 1945, in Hamilton, Texas, to Paul and Laura Russell. He grew up on a farm in Levita, Texas, which he always called his “happy place.” 

After earning his B.A. degree from Tarleton State University, Jackie served as a Military Engineer Specialist with the Army and Army Reserve and taught at the Gatesville State School for Boys. He obtained an M.S. in Computer Science from Florida Tech and holds a Ph.D. from the University of North Texas in Computer Science Teaching.

He was an outstanding leader with genuine drive and vision who made significant contributions to thousands of students over his 43 years of teaching. He was an educator at Central Texas College (Killeen, Tx), Tarleton State University (Stephenville, TX), and Northwestern State University (Natchitoches, LA), where he retired in 2015. Dr. Russell was a world-renowned visionary in the development of Computer Information Systems. A list of some of the awards Jackie received will be located at the bottom of the obituary.

Jackie’s hobbies were gardening and woodworking. He grew up doing carpentry and was a very talented furniture maker. What Jackie looked forward to most was large family gatherings to grill, tell funny family stories, and sit around a fire. He was a loving husband, dedicated father, and loyal friend who was adored by many and will be greatly missed.

Jackie is preceded in death by his parents and numerous loving aunts and uncles. He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Barbara Russell; children, Tammi George Chumbley and husband, Jon, Crista Russell, Billy George and wife, Karrie, and Jenny Russell Lazarus and husband, Timothy; grandchildren, Joshua Chumbley, Lauren Chumbley Moudy and husband, Nicholas, Emma George, Tyler George, Jeremy Colton Russell, and Courtney Russell; siblings, Jane Slemmons and husband, Alan and Ronnie Russell; uncle, Jimmie Russell; nieces and nephews, Amanda Russell Zbranek and husband, Joshua, Brooke Slemmons Jenkins and husband, Bob, and Whitney Russell Kinyaevskay and husband, George, Don Alan Slemmons, Jimbo Russell and wife, Stacy, Carson Russell, and Mason Russell.

Honoring Jackie as pallbearers will be Jon Chumbley, Joshua Chumbley, Billy George, Tyler George, Bob Jenkins, Tim Lazarus, Jimbo Russell, and Don Alan Slemmons. Serving as honorary pallbearers will be Bobby Hill, Grady Hill, Ronnie Russell, Todd Russell, John Terrill, and Jimmy Don Thompson.

The family asks in lieu of flowers, please donate to Northwestern State University’s College of Business through the Give tab on nsula.edu (notate “In Memory of Dr. Russell for COB” in the comments section), to the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod at lcms.org, or a charity of your choice.

Dr. Jackie Paul Russell’s awards and accomplishments include,

“Business Programming Logic & Design”. First edition and second edition textbook

The Jack and Louise Arthur Distinguished Faculty Award for Excellence and Teaching, 1995 to 1996 from Tarleton State University 

Piper Professor of 1997- Outstanding Scholarly and Academic Achievement

Names as an Texas A&M University System Regents Professor at Tarleton State University, 1997

EDSIG President, 1998 and 1999

NSU Outstanding Service Award for Dedicated Service to the College of Business, 2003 

NSU Distinguished Service Award for Information Systems Education Conference, 2003

Ben Bauman Award of Excellence, 2005

NSU Alumni Association Excellence and Teaching, 2005

Information Systems Educator of the Year, 2006

Recipient of the Lifetime AITP-EDSIG FELLOW Achievement Award, 2009

Dr. Russell led numerous National Championship teams at NSU.