We consider it an extreme honor and privilege to proffer this memorial tribute to our late Brother Harvey C. Russell, Jr. who joined the Chapter Invisible on February 20, 1998 after a long illness. He was 79.

Brother Russell was born in Louisville, Kentucky, where both of his parents were professional educators. His father, Harvey C. Russell, Sr., was President of Western Kentucky State College, and his mother taught at a local high school. Russell was initiated into Kappa Alpha Psi at Kentucky State College where he received a Bachelor's degree. He also studied at Indiana and Michigan Universities.

Brother Russell was a man of many "first". During World War II he became the first Black commissioned officer in the U. S. Coast Guard, even though he had been told, upon enlisting, that there was no chance of achieving that position. From there he joined a Manhattan advertising firm in a job that paid literally nothing until the agency's owner developed a soft drink called Joe Louis Punch, and hired Russell to be in charge of marketing.

Despite its winning name, Joe Louis Punch did not succeed with American consumers. By 1950 Brother Russell had joined Pepsi in a department then known as "Negro Sales". He was essential to the movement of "target marketing", which clearly identified the ethnicity of consumers and their causes. Among his many Pepsi-related accomplishments was his production of "Adventures in Negro History", a series of long playing record albums accompanied by a film strip and a study guide.

By 1958 Russell had been named manager of Pepsi's ethnic marketing department, which by then also concentrated on Hispanic consumers. He frequently represented U. S. industry in African - American dialogues.  He served as an advisor to a number of groups, including the Public Affairs Research Council and a special advisory committee on public relations to the White House. He was also a long time board member of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Inc. and helped develop the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. In 1964, he was chairman of the Interracial Council for Business Opportunities with Rodman Rockefeller, son of the late Governor Nelson Rockefeller.

Upon retirement in 1983, Donald M. Kendall, then chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pepsico said of Brother Russell "His diverse and far reaching activities have made a major contribution in establishing Pepsico as a socially responsible and involved corporation".

He leaves to mourn his passing his wife, Jacqueline, who lives in Crestwood, New York a daughter and two sons.

Brother Harvey C. Russell, along with his predeceased brother, George, was a founding member of the New Rochelle-White Plains Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi.

May they both continue to Rest in Peace.