Charles Taze Russell - Death

Death

40°30′35.27″N 80°0′56.65″W / 40.5097972°N 80.0157361°W / 40.5097972; -80.0157361

Russell's health had become increasingly poor in the last three years leading up to his death. During his final ministerial tour of the western and southwestern United States he became increasingly ill with cystitis, but ignored advice to abandon the tour. He suffered severe chills during his last week, and at times had to be held in position in bed to prevent suffocation. He was forced to deliver some of his Bible discourses sitting in a chair, and on a few occasions his voice was so weak as to be barely audible. Russell, aged 64 died on October 31, 1916, near Pampa, Texas, while returning to Brooklyn by train. An associate of Russell's stated that at age 64 his body was more worn out than that of his father who died at age 89. He was buried in Rosemont United Cemetery, Pittsburgh. The gravesite (vide coordinates above) is marked by a headstone, nearby stands a 7-foot-tall (2.1 m) pyramid memorial erected by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society in 1921.