The Official Russell Groff Story
This “Official Russell Groff Web Site,” has been set up to tell the true life story of our precious son, Russell.
Russell died tragically, on November 23, 2004, from HIV/AIDS. His death shattered our lives…… nothing will ever be the same without him. Things look and seem normal around us, but nothing feels normal; Russell is gone, and will not be back. Life as it was, will never be the same. We cannot see, touch him, or hear his voice again until we get to Heaven. We do know, we will see him again in Heaven, and that is what sustains us. Some people assume he will not be in Heaven, (because of the sin he was living in) but we know he is, and will explain our feelings on this as we go on with his story.
Russell’s precious life, was needlessly cut short and wasted, because of the homosexual lifestyle. We loved and adored Russell so much……. he was always such a beautiful, bright spot in our lives. He was very comical, and entertained us all the time.
We couldn’t tell Russell the gay lifestyle was acceptable, because the Bible says homosexuality is an abomination to God. We talked to Russell about the scriptures, along with how it hurt us to see him destroying his life. Later, we were to find more about the religion he got involved with. This Quaker, (Religious Society of Friends) turned his spiritual thinking, into believing Satan’s lies. His mind was completely clouded and confused by the people he became involved with.
Our worries about this lifestyle, soon became the tragedy we could never have imagined. We knew the power behind such a lifestyle could only be of Satan. All we could do was pray for Russell, and try to deal with keeping him in our lives. Much has been written by the gay activists slandering Russell’s parents, but this is just considering the source it came from. Kevin (the other person) found it necessary to feed his lies to all the gay activists who started a frensie of slander and harassment. Much of this affected the trail, in which we tried to get our son brought home.
The encouragement of those who uphold homosexuality, we believe caused Russell’s untimely death, speaking theoretically, of course. Russell’s dad and I were overwhelmed by all that transpired during the few years Russell was involved in the homosexual lifestyle, and his tragic death. I could never have imagined people could be so evil and cruel.
Going back to when Russell told us he was involved in this lifestyle, we tried to warn him about his low immune system, and the dangers of AIDS. He didn’t want to listen to us, he had already been so brainwashed, by the time we found out what was going on.
Russell had been told by Kevin and his parents, the Quakers, (Religious Society of Friends) and some of his friends at school, we did not love him, or we would accept who he was, (homosexual). This made it very hard for us to deal with trying to get him out of the lifestyle. We leaned on every bit of our faith to get through this, and we still cannot understand why the ending was so tragic.
Russell was convinced by those around him, he was born gay. This is one of Satan’s greatest lies. No one is born gay, it is a behavioral choice! No scientific evidence has ever proven this lie of Satan….that homosexuality is in born, it is sin born. The “church” that embraces the homosexual lifestyle, will have much blood on their hands……
Russell graduated in year 2000, with a double major from Maryville College. Russell’s partner quickly moved him away from Tennessee, to Baltimore. Moving him far away, to get him away from the influence of his family. Russell was always happy when he came home for a visit, and this made Kevin very jealous and annoyed.
Kevin’s attended a Quaker college in Baltimore, so he had a large number of homosexual friends who embraced the lifestyle. We believe this was Kevin’s way of making sure, Russell was alienated from his family. Only four years after moving to Baltimore, Russell would die an early, tragic death from AIDS, only six years after he became involved with Kevin.
Those who knew Russell, loved him. He was a caring, intelligent, happy, fun loving, young Christian man, who was led astray. His life took a tragic detour……..and this is what I want to write about, because this is the only way the truth will be told.
We know Russell struggled with the choice he had made, because he was raised with moral and values that were embedded into his precious heart.
Russell always excelled in anything he did. He became a black belt in Karate, won many awards, trophies and metals. He was an award winning speaker and writer. Russell loved art, and loved painting in watercolors when he was only in his preteens, he was an amazing person, who had real zest for life.
Russell was active in scouting,(his dad was a scout leader when he was in cub scouts). Russell won many awards, trophies and badges. He collected boy scout collectibles, they are still in his room. He was active in many things and excelled in all he did.
He has so many awards, we cannot display all of them, so I have made a photo and scrap book, two volumes, besides the ones he had already made.
Russell loved fishing, and was doing this when he as barely able to hold a fishing pole. He grew up fishing in a big pond at our farm, catching bass, bluegill and catfish. He and his siblings all enjoyed fishing, and learning the art as they grew up. We often took them to lakes and rivers too. Russell enjoyed camping, hiking, and many outdoor activities.
The last time we took Russell fishing, was in 2001. This was when he came home, to get away from the lifestyle. He caught several trout on that fishing trip, it was a memorable day for us. As we look back, it gave us some time to enjoy him and forget about the life he was living.
We know Russell enjoyed being with us, it was wonderful to be with him. We savored every minute of the time we had with Russell.
Russell usually didn’t talk much about the lifestyle, when he was around us; but on this trip he did talk about a few things, just letting words drift into a conversation. I was so afraid I would say something wrong, but we seemed to be able to talk about things very easily. I did feel his desire to make a break from the lifestyle, and Kevin knew this too. When Russell came home to get away, Kevin came here to cause trouble and get him back.
I think of so many things we could have said, but we didn’t know what words would help. Our hearts hurt so much, but we had to try to hide the hurt, in order to be able to see Russell. We knew, everything we said, would be used to help alienate him from us. We tried so hard to show him how much we loved him, no matter what he did. We know in our hearts, he knew how much we loved him, it was just the interference from others that kept him so confused.
We were not well informed about how to talk to Russell about homosexuality, but went with our hearts, and God’s Word. I would tell any parent, to get informed about this homosexual agenda, because the more you know, the more you can help your loved one.
We asked Russell, when he came home, if he went fishing in Baltimore, (where there is a lot of water access) and Russell said, “I don’t get to go, because Kevin doesn’t like to fish.” It sounded like Kevin was controlling about everything, even his fishing. I placed a copy of Russell’s picture, taken when he caught a trout on his visit home once, at his grave. It was taken by the Quakers, like every thing we put there.
Russell and his sister used to volunteer with meals on wheels, and spent time serving meals to the homeless. They were very close and always did a lot of things together. Russell had a really good heart and loved helping people. He helped coach middle school basketball while in high school, and tutored math students at our dinning room table.
Memories are stirred up, when we look at his things he left at home. I spend a lot of time crying, and I can see the pain in his dad’s eyes, even when we don’t talk. It is a quiet remembrance of the good times, overshadowed by the bad times we are having to endure.
Both of our voices quiver as we reminisce about Russell. We worked so hard to give our children the right morals and values, so they could go on and lead a good Christian life. Life just went wrong……no one can ever know why? There is not a day that goes by, we don’t talk about Russell. He is with us all the time……constantly ever abiding in our love for him. We try to savor what we do have left in life, but the strain of Russell’s death has been a great deal of stress to carry each and every day……we miss him so bad.
In school, Russell always had many friends. Russell was voted as, “Who’s Who” of his senior class. Russell was never one to brag about himself, but he always said, ”He received his inspiration from God.” I just wish he would have stayed on the right track, and he could have done anything he wanted with his life. This is pain that we face every day thinking of what could have been.
Russell became a born again Christian and baptized into the Baptist faith at the age of 12. He loved the Lord, and always gave God credit for his achievements. When he got involved in the homosexual lifestyle, his spirituality was used to lure him into thinking things that were not of God. By God’s Amazing Grace, Russell is forgiven, and he is in a better place, where we will see him again one day. It is his family, who loved him so dearly, whose hearts are broken, and aching for the loss of their precious son. It was stated in the court documents, he was a confessing Christian when he died. I am surprised this was said, but I am sure it was thought we would never find out what happened to our son.
In high school, Russell was Vice-President of his senior class, which was an honor for him, because this was by popular vote. He was selected as a Proffitt’s Trendsetter, (by facility) because he had such a great personality, and his brilliant mind. He wanted to do this, because one of his female friends was going to be in it. I thought they would be an item, as much as he liked her.
It was strange, Russell a trendsetter, when he was so happy to go to a thrift store and buy used shirts or pants. He was very thrifty, and thought it was a real thrill to shop like this. He was so handsome, it did not matter what he had on. He looked good in anything he wore. He was a clean cut and handsome young man.
Russell had one of his poems published in a national publication, while in high school. This particular poem was about his grandfather and great grandfather. Some of the memories told him by his mother, inspired this poem called the “Hierarchy Theory.” The family should have gotten copyrights to these works of Russell’s, (we believe, Russell did leave these to the family). The facts in the case proved Russell had made a previous will, and one day we will let everyone know all the facts about this miscarriage of justice.
Russell stated in his year book that he had aspirations of going to law school, to study corporate law. His getting involved in this homosexual lifestyle, caused him to lose everything, including his life.
While in high school, Russell’s best friend Emily, (since second grade) was his date to many festivities, some of which was Homecoming festivities, as well as Junior and Senior proms. Russell was in the top 10 of his class. He participated in the scholars bowl, and was a member of the student council. He was design editor of the 1996 year book, and worked relentlessly with Emily, (who was the Editor) to have a great year book.
He was well respected by his teachers, and they wrote him very nice letters for scholarships to college. Russell’s teachers in school knew how we were involved in his life, and was always there for him.
Russell was also editor of a newsletter for the theme park where he worked for the summer, during high school. Anything he did, he tried hard to do a great job.
We can’t remember all of the awards Russell has gotten over the years, but they are all in his room, as he left them. He enjoyed almost everything, and his zest for life will always be engraved in our hearts and lives. He loved Garfield, and he had a collection of Garfield memorabilia. Garfield seemed to be a little character similar to Russell.
The world has lost a very talented young man, who had so much potential. It was all such a waste……….
In college Russell belonged to the Maryville College Choir. He had a beautiful voice, and was very musically inclined. In high school he played a silver trumpet, (the one we got back from Kevin, intentionally damaged to hurt us).
A parent’s love is from God, and we loved our son unconditionally, but we would not accept the homosexual lifestyle he chose. Embracing the lifestyle, would be like us telling him a lie. If you love your child, you do not tell him lies.
Be sure to visit excerpts from Russell’s life, on the right side of this story.
Lowell and Carolyn Groff
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen
Psalm 1:1-3 “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”
Psalm 119:9-10 “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from they commandments.”