Russell F. Chaffee, 87, of Sayre PA passed away on Saturday, August 9, 2014 at home following an extended illness. Russell was born on May 14, 1927 in Hemlock Run, PA, the son of the late Frank L. and Frankie Isbell Chaffee. He graduated from Troy High School in 1946, missing his senior year while serving in the US Army Air Corps from 1945 to 1947. He attended Mansfield College on the GI Bill, graduating in 1950. He later received a Master's Degree from Elmira College in 1960. He began his career teaching 3 years in a 2 room schoolhouse at Mosherville, PA and then 2 years in Spencer, NY. Russell taught for 17 years in the Sayre School District. He also taught for 2 years in Victoria, Australia on an International Teacher's Fellowship. He completed his teaching career in Philadelphia, PA, retiring in 1982 and then substituted in the Valley school systems for many years. Russell was well known for his marathon swimming which included swimming the length of the Susquehanna River in 1966, swimming to Montreal for Expo 67, swimming across Cape Cod Bay in 1968, and swimming all of the Finger Lakes. He also swam the Connecticut River, the Delaware River, the Allegheny River, the Monongahela River, the Juniata River and 600 miles of the Ohio River from Pittsburgh to Louisville. Russell also enjoyed reading, star gazing, singing, and giving a math lesson to anyone who would listen. He was a former member and President of the Sayre PTA, the Valley Federation of Bible Classes, Valley Chorus and a former volunteer at the Robert Packer Hospital. He was a current member of the Valley United Presbyterian Church, Bradford Sullivan Forest Landowners Association, Che-Hanna Rock and Mineral Club, the Susquehanna Valley Audubon Society and the Sayre Historical Society. He is predeceased by his parents, sister Alice & Lawrence Dyer, brother William Chaffee, niece June Cole and nephew Donald Dyer. He is survived by his wife Phyllis of 58 years at home; children Alan and Susan Chaffee of Melbourne, Australia, Cynthia and John Green of Harrisburg, PA and Scott Chaffee of Sayre; grandchildren Tanya and Gustave Dahl, Erica and Christopher Ickes, Jared and Hannah Green, Emily and Brent Kimpton, and Madeleine Chaffee; great grandchildren Aaron, Nathan, and Ethan Dahl, John Haskins, Cassidy Ickes, Caleb Kimpton, and Hadley Green; niece Ruth Bidlack and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. A Memorial Service will be held on September 16th at the Valley United Presbyterian Church, 459 Park Avenue in Waverly, NY; time to be announced on the funeral home website and in the paper at a later date. Memorial donations may be made in Russell's memory to the Valley United Presbyterian Church, 622 ½ South Main Street, Athens, PA 18810.