David Russell describes his late wife Donna as a force to be reckoned with, especially when she cared about something. And when she died in the middle of writing a book about Pewee Valley’s history, he felt he had to honor her wishes and have it finished.
Now, “A History of Pewee Valley: The Eden East of Louisville” can be purchased online and at most book retailers, as well as at city hall. Russell says the proceeds from any book sales will benefit the history museum, set up in an old fire department truck bay beside it — something his late wife worked hard to establish.
“She was wonderful to watch in action …” Russell says. He had the book finished with some help, and decided to make sure it could in turn help support the museum — something he knew would’ve made his late wife happy.
“Donna would’ve wanted it like that.”
Donna had a long and very successful writing career in advertising and marketing within different industries, eventually becoming the Pewee Valley historian and “going full force into it” after retiring, Russell says. She was honored by Oldham County Historical Society as a “Living Treasure” in recognition of what she did for preservation and history, and awarded by Kentucky Historical Society in Frankfort, which helped win a state grant to establish the museum.
“She fought for things. She made them happen,” he says.
In December of 2019, Donna was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer, a very aggressive form of the disease. It comes up differently, Russell says, as a rash.
“The devastating part is that we went through all the chemo and prep work to get ready for the surgery, and her head wasn’t included in the first body scan …” He says when treatments were ending, a second scan was done including her head — showing five brain tumors.
“So technically, she had a brain seizure and died within three days — no vitals left …”
They were married for 42 years. Donna was 65.
But she was still active even in those days, during her sickness.
“We got a headset so she could talk into it, and it translated it into writing …” onto a computer, because she no longer had the mobility. “But she was still plodding along and pulling things together, on into September.”
The book consumed her, he says. “She kept writing and writing.”
Russell is proud of the finished product — he used what his wife had set up to finish “a timeline history of what a community does. This basically drills down to those personalities …There’s a central figure in there … and see how they interact with other characters in Pewee.”
He hopes the book would make Donna proud, but he says no one can write quite like her. “The depth she was capable of digging into and weaving it all back into her writing … I mean, the book does a good job — we ended up with 32 gigs of information after she passed …” with much of the story already developed into vignettes about certain people.
“She would wrap up tiny little packages of some of these characters, who they really were … Only rich people had houses out here, it was a very elitist atmosphere and a very leisurely life, so a lot to dig through in that aspect …”
He and Donna had two girls together, and Russell includes the grandchildren as part of his late wife’s passions. He says she was particularly proud that her girls continued on the vacation tradition that they began together as a young couple.
“We always had a general itinerary — it had to have a theme park, a museum and zoo, and something special …” which could be anything, like a historical draw. “We didn’t go to the beach, except to go see grandparents. Now I see what both of my girls have done as parents — they do the same with their trips … including the history part.”
And the girls were all for Russell finishing their late mom’s book, he says — they’re proud, as well.
“I just hope this book confirms what she wanted to do. I hope it speaks to people. And I know that the people who knew her — I hope it helps them relive some moments. It’s just a great little community.”