Edwin Keith Russack (2 April 1918 – 26 February 1999) known as Keith Russack, was a politician in the State of South Australia.

History

Russack was born at Kadina, South Australia, the youngest son of Alfred Hermann Russack (1879 – 5 November 1951) and his wife Rosa. A. H. Russack was a jeweller who had served his apprenticeship with

J. M. Wendt Joachim Matthias "J. M." Wendt (26 June 1830 – 7 September 1917) was a silversmith and manufacturing jeweller in the early days of South Australia. Life and career Wendt was born in Itzehoe, a small town in Holstein, then a Danish province, son ...

, and Keith trained as a watchmaker and was employed at his father's business in Kadina. He enlisted with the 2nd AIF early in 1940 and saw action in South-east Asia. He maintained his involvement with the military, and in 1952 was Captain of C Company 27th Infantry Battalion (South Australian Scottish Regiment). By 1953 he had two jewellery and gift stores in Kadina. He was in September 1970 elected as a Liberal candidate for a Midland district seat in the Legislative Council made vacant by the death of Colin Rowe. In 1973 he won the seat of Gouger in the House of Assembly, succeeding Steele Hall. At the 1977 elections the seat of Gouger had been abolished, and Russack was not preselected for any seat, so stood as an Independent Liberal for Goyder, which he won, and subsequently rejoined the Liberal Party and held the seat until 1982, when he retired, to be succeeded by John Meier.

Other activities

He was Mayor of the

Corporate Town of Kadina The Corporate Town of Kadina was a local government area in South Australia from 1872 to 1977, based in the town of Kadina. History The council was proclaimed on 31 July 1872, following a 200-strong public meeting in May and subsequent petition t ...

(as also was Liberal Premier John Olsen) from 1968 to 1971, a charter member of Kadina

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, profe ...

from 1959, and director of the first Kernewek Lowender Festival. He was awarded an

OAM OAM may refer to: *Oamaru Aerodrome, New Zealand * Object access method *Observatorio Astronómico de Mallorca, an observatory in Spain *U.S. Office of Alternative Medicine, whose duties have been taken over by the National Center for Complementary ...

in 1989.

Family

He married Ruth Boaden Trenwith (21 November 1920 – 27 August 2000) of Kadina in February 1943. They had three sons: Rodger, Lee and Mark.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Russack, Keith Members of the South Australian Legislative Council Members of the South Australian House of Assembly 1918 births 1999 deaths Liberal and Country League politicians 20th-century Australian politicians Mayors of places in South Australia Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia