SANCHEZ, Russell Martin

Russell Martin Sanchez (62) of Belton, Texas, died peacefully Wednesday, February 15, 2023. He was born on July 1, 1960 in San Antonio, Texas, to Homer and Nora Sanchez. In his teenage years, Russell moved to Austin, Texas, where he graduated from LBJ High School in the class of 1978. He went to the University of Texas at Austin and graduated with a B.A. in Psychology in 1984, receiving a national fellowship award to attend New York University where he completed his M.A. in Experimental Psychology and a Doctor of Philosophy in Neural Science. After receiving his Ph.D, Russell worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Boston Children’s Hospital and as an Instructor and Research Fellow in Neurology at Harvard Medical School. Following postdoctoral study, Russell was an Assistant Professor of Pharmacology at the UT Health Science Center in San Antonio, an Assistant Professor of Neuroscience at Texas A&M Health Science Center, and an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine.

Russell met his wife, Donna Warkomski, while studying and living in New York City. They were married in 1996 and enjoyed their life together until Donna’s passing in February of 2022.

In his professional life, Russell was an accomplished neuroscientist, having held faculty positions in academic medical institutions where he established and maintained research programs in neurophysiology and epilepsy. His research has been funded by the NIH (NINDS), American Heart Association, Epilepsy Foundation, HHMI, and additional private foundations. Russell has published original research articles in high impact journals (i.e, Journal of Neuroscience, Epilepsia), and multiple book chapters. Gifted with excellent writing skills, Russell wrote various scientific excerpts, including a chapter that was published in an NIH monograph on addiction science. Russell also contributed to or chaired numerous institutional and national committees, garnering respect among peers as a valuable team contributor and colleague.

In his personal life, Russell’s true passion was music. He learned to play the guitar at the age of 7. He played trombone in high school under his favorite band director, Don Haynes, for The One, The Only LBJ High School Jaguar Band. In the 1980’s, during a burgeoning Austin music scene, Russell played bass guitar in the Austin punk band, Skank.  He also played with The Soulbashers, The Wild Seeds, and The Bolos.  They played at the Back Room, Raul’s, Liberty Lunch, The Continental Club, Hole in the Wall, Club Foot and many other venues. He would often sit-in with several Austin musician friends when they needed a talented bass player. He worked at Highland Lanes Bowling Alley in high school and college, and loved tending bar and getting to know the regulars, sharing stories and entertaining them with interesting jokes and humorous observations on life. While working on his doctoral degree at New York University, Russell also found time to sub in on bass as a studio musician. He played with a band called Boomslang and with Slander Donna.  When he lived in Atlanta, he loved to spend time at his friend Sam Yi’s restaurant that featured live jazz and at times would sit in with other performers.

Russell also had a great love of sports, but his favorite was Basketball. He loved to play pickup games throughout his life and never missed watching the Longhorns play. He was known to criticize coaches like “Regular Season Rick'' but he loved coaches like Abe Lemmons and Tom Penders. His love of basketball started as a kid, but he always talked about how great Don Haynes was for opening up the LBJ gym so they could play basketball. He was also an avid Cowboys fan and loved playing soccer later in life.

Russell loved animals. He and his late wife Donna fostered over 100 dogs in the past 15 years, adopting a large number of them. They owned a rescue ranch for 6 years where they cared for horses, miniature donkeys, goats, pot-bellied pigs, chickens, dogs and cats. He often talked about how happy he was on the farm with Donna and the animals. He was surrounded by his dogs when he passed away.

Russell was preceded in death by his wife, Donna Sanchez; father, Homer Sanchez; Mother-in-law, Ann Warkomski. And furbabies, Penny, Bart, Nanny, Old Man, Chester, Wilma, Dirby, Gandhi, ChaCha, Ursula and Jackson.

Russell is survived by his mother Nora Sanchez, sister Jennifer Tester (Greg Branum), brother Sam Sanchez, niece Carly Tester, nephews Patric Tester and Christopher Branum (Ashtin Branum), cousin Victor Ortiz, aunt Josephine Wrase, numerous cousins, and furbabies, Isabella, Kiwi, Earl Hickey Jr., Cookie, Hershey, Wildfire, Jellybean and Stella.

A celebration of life will be held Sunday, March 12, 1 p,m, to 4 p.m. at 1608 Mayfield Drive in Round Rock, TX. ​Memorial donations can be made to the Animal Rescue of your choice, PAWS Shelter of Central Texas, or Texas Humane Heroes.

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