BROOKLINE – Douglas Leigh Russell, a World War II veteran of the Normandy landing, died on Dec. 20, 2012, quietly surrounded by his family.

He was born in Ashland, NH, in 1923 and grew up in Somerville and Arlington, MA.

He graduated from Arlington High School and enrolled in Tufts University. In his sophomore year he enlisted in the Army Signal Corps. He participated in the Allied landing at Utah Beach, as well as campaigns in Normandy, Northern France, the Rhineland, Ardennes, and Central Europe.

After the war, he met and married Elizabeth Howatt of Natick, MA, with whom he had corresponded during the war. He completed his undergraduate studies at Tufts and earned a Master’s degree in English at Harvard University. He taught English at Quincy High School from 1948 to 1951 and worked at the Committee on Publication at The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston until 1988, when he retired.

Douglas Russell had a wide range of interest, centered on family activities:  hiking, camping, fishing, bridge, gardening, and baking bread, for which he was famous. He loved caring for the land on the homestead that has been in his family since 1757.

He was a lifelong Christian Scientist and served his church in many capacities. He cherished his relationships in Brookline, many going back generations, and at the Christian Science Church in Milford, NH, where his mother, Dorothy, had been a pioneer member.

Pre-deceased by his wife, Elizabeth, and daughter, Leigh Daugherty, he is survived by daughters, Gail Chaddock of Chevy Chase, MD, and Marianne Russell of Scarsdale, NY; his grandchildren, Christina Pocklington of Ada, MI, and Alexandra Wahlberg and Erik Wahlberg of Scarsdale, NY; his sister, Jean Turkington of Concord, MA, and Brookline, NH; niece, Laurel Mahoney of Madison, CT; and nephews, Kenneth Turkington of Brookline, NH, and Stephen Turkington of Merrimack, NH; and extended family.

There will be a private memorial service at the Russell Homestead in Brookline, N.H. and a burial with military honors at the Lakeside Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations in his honor may be made to the First Church of Christ, Scientist, 103 South Street, Milford, N.H. 03055 or to the Brookline Historical Society, 10 Meetinghouse Road, Brookline, NH  03033. Arrangements are in the care of Smith & Heald Funeral Home, 63 Elm Street, Milford, NH.

To share a memory or offer a condolence, please go to www.smith-heald.com.