Russell Spencer

Dearest Shanan and Andrew, Michael and Sara….Sending my deepest sympathy and love on the passing of your beloved Dad. I have so many fond memories of our family get togethers especiallly when we were growing up. May your Dad’s memory be a blessing. Love, Cousin Louise xoxo

Dear Shanan & Andrew Please know that we are thinking of you at this sad time. This year you have had two tragedies too many. fondly, Cousins Selma, Debbie & Steven

My sincere condolences to Russ’s family and friends on your and our loss. Russ was a wonderful human being who delighted with his exuberant, sensitive and enjoyable violin playing. He joined the SAO when it was beneficial for the orchestra to have a bright light and a strong warm character like him in our midst. He so obviously enjoyed playing that it was impossible to not be captured by his enthusiasm. He will be missed. Ricardo Giorgi - Conductor, SAO (in the early years)

I am so sad to hear of Russell’s passing. He was always such a pleasure to have as part of our musical team. He brought pizzazz into his fiddling and there was always such vitality and life in his playing. He was quirky and fun to be around and our orchestra will greatly miss him. I would like to offer heartfelt condolences to his children and their families. May his music always ring true in your memories and make your thoughts sparkle with happy times you had together.

Dear Shanan and Andrew, Sending my deepest sympathy on the passing of your father. May his memory be a blessing.

Dear Shana and Michael sending comforting message to you on the sad news about your father passing away I am a member of the Klezzconection for the last few years and although i have not played with your father many time i always enjoyed witching him having such a great time when we all played togeehr May you be comforted and know no sorrow any more

I enjoyed knowing Russ and playing music with him over the years. He was a lovely guy and I'll miss accompanying him on those old time and bluegrass fiddle tunes.

Shanan, My thoughts are with you and your family during this difficult time. Sending love during the grieving process and beyond. Patrick, your Foundation and CC&C team have sponsored a Shiva meal which will arrive at your house on Monday. A small token to honour the life of Russel. With love, Noah

To the children of Russell of Blessed Memory. I was saddened to hear of your dear father's death. When your late parents were a young couple, my ex husband and myself had socialized with Russell and Ruth Z'L, as cousin's on the Hershorn side. My late ex mother-in-law, Raye LEBOW was a cousin..I think it was on your grandfather's side. We had been in contact with your late grandparents Z'L and got to know your parents better. I hope your good memories will sustain you at this sad time. My thoughts are with you. Hamakom Yenachem Etchem Betoch Shaar Avalei Tzion ve Yerushalyim and know no more sorrow. Janice Lebow

Dear Shanan and family, I am so sorry for your loss. Our family will hold your family in our thoughts and prayers.

My sincere condolences to Russel’s family and all that knew and loved him. I knew Russell long before Hollers. We played in the orchestra together at The National Music Camp held at Camp Manitou-Wabing back in the 1960s. I knew him through a family connection as well. His daughter babysat for my daughter in the 1980s when we lived near each other in Thornhill. I would run into him at Pancer’s deli on Bathurst in more recent years. Each time he was by himself, as was I, so I would join him to shoot the breeze about music, everything else and nothing important. I was always so pleased to see him, albeit quite infrequently, when he joined us to fiddle at one of our bluegrass jams. He was always asked to play Josefin’s Waltz, one of his signature tunes. He was a sweet guy and a real mensch. I am sending along (see below) messages (with some edits for clarity and brevity) I received on our bluegrass jam message board from fellow musicians on hearing of Russel’s passing. Listen to “Josefin’s Waltz” on You Tube and remember him fondly. ___________________________________________________________________ He was a nice fellow, Russell. He often refused to take a break but then would surprise us once in a while with a nice one. He came to a jam not that long ago. Cary ____________________________________________________________________ Very sad news Russell used to come out to the old time jams too. He would typically record a lot of the sessions on his phone. Not sure what he had in mind, I was always a little worried that someone would step on the phone by accident.... It was nice to see him when we jammed at Steve's recently. Dave _____________________________________________________________________ Oh, the comments about Josephine’s Waltz really got to my heart... Russ introduced me to you all in 2017. That summer Russ and I met at a banjo workshop at the Tranzac that Chris Coole arranged. We discovered a shared love of fiddle music and he came to my place a few times that summer to try played fiddle\cello duets including Josephine’s Waltz. We bought the official notation of this version, and managed to keep it together for a few bars at least. From my interactions with him I could see just how diverse his musical interests were beyond bluegrass. Edie ______________________________________________________________________ I’m so sorry to hear the news. He was a sweet, kind man. May his memory be a blessing. Isabel _______________________________________________________________________ "a quite man who was transported when he played the violin. And he reached us with his beautiful, heartfelt melodies" Rest in Peace, Russell. We will play Josephine's Waltz, which you introduced us to, in your honour. Dennis ________________________________________________________________________ I saw him do Klezmer at a stage on the lawn at Harbourfront. There was also a world fiddle day when I saw him and many others at Fort York. Maybe 10-15 years ago I was teaching inline skating at the former West Toronto Collegiate. Russell was one of my students. (Without a particular aptitude for it, btw.) One Saturday morning it was raining so we all piled into the car where I could teach bearing and skate maintenance instead of technique. We got to talking and it came out that I jammed regularly with the Hollers and that Russell was trying to learn to play bluegrass/old-time fiddle. The rest is history. It also turned out that Russell had been at McGill undergrad during the same years as I had, though I didn’t know or recognize him from there. He had a granddaughter that he spoke about and cared about a lot. I am very saddened by this news. Death of a contemporary is hard to take. Stephen __________________________________________________________________________ Russ was a swell guy. Very quiet, but he had a good sense of fun—which I guess is what got him out on skates in the first place, aptitude or no aptitude. Russ seemed to have a lot of friends and kept himself busy and did music in a lot of group settings. Old time and Klezmer, and other stuff I’m not remembering. So, I guess we owe it to Stephen and in-line skates that Russell ever came out to play with us… and through Russ, we know Cary S… and through him we know Steve. Ripples and ripples. John ___________________________________________________________________________ I’ll miss jamming with Russ. We played bluegrass and old time together and I’d see him at Mary and Michael Alton’s place from time to time playing and enjoying all kinds of other folk music too. I’m forever grateful for the chain of connections from Stephen to Russ to Cary S. who eventually dragged me out and brought music back into my life. And, yes, let’s play a nice version of Josephine’s for Russ. Steve _____________________________________________________________________________ Sad news, but I'm glad I had the opportunity to meet him and play with him at Hollers' jams. Marty ______________________________________________________________________________

Dear Shanan, Michael and family, We are so sorry for your loss. Sending our deepest condolences . May the memories you share help you through this difficult time.

Russ was it very close friend my teacher and Mentor. He would definitely considered part of our family. We would talk almost every day trying to get together at least once a week we will bounce ideas and problems off each other the way good friends do. We enjoyed a lot of the same things like good food comedy, magic, music and of course computer stuff. His passing will leave a big hole in my life and I'm sure many others who knew him. R.I.P Mr. Russell Spencer

Shanan, I’m thinking of you and sending love and strength to you. Hoping there is much comfort in beautiful memories. Laura xxx

I’ve played with Russ in the orchestra since 2017, and had the privilege of being his stand partner last year. His attitude and energy were contagious and always made a positive impact on my Monday nights. Deepest condolences to his family.

Shanan and Andrew, so sorry to hear about the passing of your father. May you cherish your memories of your dad. Sending love and strength during this difficult time.

Russ has joined the celestial choir. We will miss him at family functions especially Christmas where he added music to our celebrations. We will forever remember his fiddle planning while Will played the spoons. The twinkle in his eyes, his dry humor and interesting conversations along with his hugs will be missed. Our sympathies to his familiy, Shannon, Mike, Andrew and Sara. With love, Sherry and Will Penny

Dear Shanan and family, Please accept my sincere condolences on the loss of your beloved father. May all the cherished memories be for a blessing. Barb Farber (Dinah Branch).

I just learned of Russell's passing...I loved sitting beside him in the violin section of strings attached - both of us slightly irreverent - I was a newish player and Russell was a huge supporter, always encouraging, with a wonderfully dry wit...I loved his musicality, his go-for-it gusto when he had the opportunity to play a solo passage or two. I moved away several years ago but have never forgotten him. My condolences to his family. May his memory be a blessing

I knew Russ through the Old Time Fiddling world, he was very dedicated to his music. I had not seen him in ages and was very saddened to hear of his passing. May his memory be a blessing.