Russell Frederick “Bud” Geisser

East Providence, R.I.

Russell Frederick “Bud” Geisser, PE (Ret.), died with his loving family by his side on June 2, 2018. He was born to George J. Geisser, Sr., and Madelyn (Grady) Geisser on November 11, 1923, in East Providence, and was predeceased by his beloved wife Barbara Ann (Hockman) Geisser in 2013. They were married for 64 years.

Bud graduated from East Providence High School in the Class of 1940. When his parents went to see him graduate, Bud was not there – he had hopped an oil barge to Uruguay the day before. This was the manifestation of a life spiced with what his mother called “wanderlust.” When Bud returned from his South American adventure, he volunteered to fight in WWII, serving in the U.S. Army in Europe as a light machine gunner in the 16th Armored Infantry Battalion.

Bud’s engineering career began in 1950 by being named a partner, with his brother George, Jr., of George J. Geisser and Associates, Inc., a company started by their father for his engineer sons. In later years, Bud was the sole owner of Russell F. Geisser and Associates, Inc., and several subsidiary companies that were involved in the brokerage of used laboratory equipment, environmental investigations, structural investigations, and product testing for manufacturers. He ended his career under the corporate banner of Russell F. Geisser, PE, FASCE, conducting private consulting work.

Always seeking new challenges, Bud earned an IFR (Instrument Flight Rule) certificate at age 65 flying his single-engine Cessna aircraft. Bud was also a lifelong avid sailor, and kept his sailboats at Cove Haven Marina in Riverside for over 50 years, his last being a Bristol 35-foot sloop, the Barbara Ann. One of his final adventures was frostbiting (winter racing) in a small sloop during the winters of 2015 and 2016 in Upper Narragansett Bay. Bud also sailed aboard contenders in the Newport to Bermuda races, and participated in many Twenty Hundred Club races out of Newport. For all his time on the water, Bud kept one secret from everyone – he couldn’t swim!

After he retired from the active practice of engineering, Bud built a small dinghy or sailboat in his garage each winter, which he would give to a deserving local boy or girl in the spring. This was indicative of Bud’s generosity, which colored every day of his life.