In 1967, Russell H. Steel and his wife, Arlet, began a 36-year career publishing and editing The Forest Republican in Crandon. They fulfilled their dream of owning a weekly community newspaper and worked together — without ever missing a deadline —through many advances in newspaper production technology. Initially, they printed the paper by letterpress, then by linotype machine and a hand-fed cylinder press that was only able to print four pages at a time. They saw the change to offset printing and, eventually, to computers before selling the newspaper in 2003 to retire and spend time traveling and with family.
Russell was born Aug. 26, 1935, in Ladysmith to Harold and Florence (Brovan) Steel. He graduated from Ladysmith High School in 1953 and joined the U.S. Army in 1955. He attained the rank of sergeant and was discharged in 1958 — the same year he married his high school sweetheart, Arlet Goldsmith. Together they had two children, five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Soon after their marriage, the couple moved to Minneapolis, where Russell enrolled in the printing trades program at Dunwoody Institute. That program was followed by a six-year apprenticeship mainly while working at the Reedsburg Times-Press, which earned him journeyman printer status.
After Reedsburg, Russell worked at the Cornell Courier and the (Wisconsin Rapids) Daily Tribune before moving to Crandon.
Russell died July 2, 2017, at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rhinelander after a long battle with COPD. He was 81.
