Russell Alan Billard

Russell Alan Billard, 30, formerly of Hebron, passed away in a severe winter storm in Lake Tahoe, California on March 7, 2017. Son of Roger and Paula Billard of Hebron, he was born October 29, 1986 and grew up in Hebron.  He attended Hebron Elementary school, and graduated from Howell Cheney Technical High School in 2005.  After working in the local area, Russell moved to Arizona and worked there for several years until an injury caused him to return to Hebron.  He stayed in Hebron for about a year when a close friend urged him to come to Alaska with a promise of a job. He flew to Alaska in April 2009 and found out there was no job. That didn’t faze him for long; he soon found work elsewhere and never looked back, only forward. Russell’s positive, ‘can-do’ attitude soon found him employment building and maintaining communication towers all over Alaska, traveling to remote villages and islands, including some places only accessible by ferry boat, airplane, or helicopter. He spent one winter maintaining towers in Hawaii.  In the summer of 2011, Russell was accepted to the State of Alaska’s forest fire training school in Tok, Alaska. After graduation, he went out with a forest fire crew for the remainder of 2011 forest fire season, and then returned to communication towers. In 2012, he was accepted into an IBEW electricians’ apprenticeship program and graduated in May 2016, receiving his journeyman’s license in June 2016. The friends he met throughout these journeys meant the world to him. Russell’s free time was filled with cherished friends and many incredible adventures, including hiking and camping in the Alaskan mountains, backcountry snowboarding, parasailing, kiteboarding, white water kayaking the wild and frigid Alaskan rivers, and sea kayaking, including the open waters off the Kenai peninsula. He caught salmon in a dry suit with a net at the mouth of the Kenai River. He loved exploring the natural world with friends. In 2015, Russell met the love of his life, Bethany Day of Anchorage, AK. Their love grew ever stronger as they shared hiking and camping adventures in the mountains and along the rivers of Alaska. In addition to Bethany, he is survived by his parents Roger and Paula Billard; sister Ashley Holland and husband Ian, their two sons, Fredric and Benedict, and his brother Paul (Gus) Billard. He also leaves behind his grandparents, Michael and Mary Aronne, and many aunts, uncles, cousins, and dear friends across the country. A memorial service and celebration of life will be held on Sunday, March 26th in Anchorage Alaska.  A second memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 22 at 11 a.m. at Gilead Congregational Church, 672 Gilead St. (Route 85), Hebron, CT, with the Rev. Dr. Denise Esslinger and Rev. Ron Thompson officiating. Burial will be private in St. Peter's Cemetery, Hebron.