Russell Dale Romanov

Russell Dale Romanov died in Wilmington on August 18, 2026. He was 85. Born in Wilmington on January 7, 1941, with Russian-American roots that shaped the table more than the flag. He learned early that a day is something you finish, not something you wait for. He rubbed stain into wood until color became character. A can labeled by hand sat on his bench; he could match a customer's memory of a table. Colleagues still mention a can of stain labeled by hand. He married Betty in 1967. They kept a house that stayed modest when the neighborhood did not. They raised a son through public schools and ordinary weather. After Betty died in 2019, he kept the routines that still made sense: the walk, the garden, the Sunday call. Neighbors remember coffee offered before questions. He liked early mornings before the heat or the noise. He died in Wilmington, among streets he never needed to explain. The chair by the window still holds the shape of a habit.