IN LOVING MEMORY OF JOHN J. RUSSO II

John J. Russo II was born in 1952 and raised in suburban Chicago. John excelled in scholastics and graduated from the University of Southern California in 1974. He subsequently graduated cum laude from Loyola University Law School in 1977.

After passing the California bar, he gained employment from a Los Angeles-based law firm and moved with his wife to Valencia where they started a family. John was a diligent and hard-working man and became a renowned attorney. He earned a reputation as one of the most successful civil litigators in the state of California history, and after almost 40 years, retired as general partner of the same firm. Retirement was short-lived, however, and he was soon recruited by Valencia-based insurance company Petersen International Underwriters as in-house counsel to work on legislation efforts with state governments across the country. 

After a couple of successful years in the insurance world, John and his family began noticing increasingly-severe physical changes to his body. A slight slurring of his speech was followed by muscle degradation and an obvious hindrance to his walk. But he was a strong man, and continued to be productive as an employee and as a husband, father and grandfather. Several misdiagnoses later, John was diagnosed with ALS in January of 2013.

Personally, John was a great family man. He adored his wife, three kids and young grandchildren with whom he spent much of his free time. They traveled throughout the world and all over the U.S., visiting museums and art galleries. John was an art lover and collector as well as an avid saltwater fisherman.

The ALS diagnosis was devastating to his family and friends.  His sickness progressed quickly, and within ten months of the official diagnosis, he was no longer able to make it into the office, nor travel as he previously so enjoyed. John eventually succumbed to respiratory complications from ALS on December 4, 2013, two weeks after his 61st birthday.

John Russo was an important person in the business world and well-regarded in the Santa Clarita Valley, but so much more, he was an important man to his loving wife, his two sons, his beloved daughter, and their growing families. He has been greatly missed, and he will be fondly remembered and spoken of frequently by generations to come.

Petersen International Underwriters is proud to return as the Title Sponsor for this year's ALS Golf Classic in loving memory of John and in support of the ALS community worldwide.