Russ Page, business entrepreneur, farmer, and dedicated civic activist in Oconee County, died peacefully at his home in Wilmington, N.C., on Saturday (Oct. 25) after a long battle with cancer. He was 80.
Page was instrumental in creating Oconee County’s farmland protection program, was one of the founders of the county’s farmers market, and was the key advocate for including designated funding for historic preservation in the county’s budget.
Page was a regular at county Board of Commissioners meeting prior to moving to Wilmington in the summer of 2018 to be closer to his family. He frequently addressed the Board, advocating for a development program to protect farmland in the county.
He was one of four citizens who pushed the Board of Commissioners to begin video recording its meetings, a policy it adopted in 2008 and has continued since.
The Board of Commissioners declared March 4 Russ Page Day to honor his contributions to Oconee County.
A Celebration of Life will be held at Little Chapel on the Boardwalk in Wrightsville Beach, N.C., on Oct. 29.
Personal Details
Page was born and raised in Meriden, Conn., and in the summers he spent time on Cape Cod, where he met Joan Currier. They married in 1965 and moved to Oconee County in 1981.
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| Page On His Farm Undated Photo Courtesy Of The Oconee Enterprise |
Page earned a Bachelor of Science and a Master’s Degree from the University of Connecticut and his Ph.D. from Rutgers University. A cattle reproductive physiologist, he did postdoctoral research at West Virginia University and the University of Pennsylvania.
In 1989, after several years of teaching at Rutgers University, the University of Detroit, and the University of Georgia, Page launched his business, Reproductive Progress.
Through his work in embryo transfer, he served farmers across the Southeast, helping them develop their herds by leveraging the best genetics possible for their cows.
Page ran Reproductive Progress from a 25-acre farm off SR 15 south of Watkinsville named Head of the Meadow, where he also raised Senepol cattle.
Page was a proud member of the Oconee County and Georgia Cattlemen’s associations for many years.
After retiring, Russ and Joan moved to Wilmington to enjoy life by the ocean and be closer to family.
On retirement, Page recounted his exploits working with cows in a book aptly titled Farming In My Heart, Science In My Life, & Unforeseen Peril In My Work, which was published in 2021 and is available on Amazon.
Contributions To County
In an interview I did with Page in 2018 as he was packing for his move to North Carolina, he told me that he prefers to think of himself as a farmer.
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| Book Cover |
“Everything I did was to support farmers,” he said. “I had my own farm and my own cows,” he said. “So yes, I’m a farmer–maybe a scientific kind of farmer that helped other farmers.”
Page was one of three people who started the Oconee Farmers Market in 2004.
He also was one of a group of 10 who launched the county’s farmland protection program, which allows farmers to take money out of their farm by agreeing to keep it in farming.
That Farmland Protection Program has protected more than 750 acres of farmland in Oconee County since 2003, the county’s proclamation naming March 4, 2025, Russ Page Day stated.
In 2014, Page was the sole advocate for including dedicated funding in SPLOST for Historic Preservation.
Shortly before he left the county, Page created a more-than-half-inch-thick spiral-bound book he labeled Hidden Treasures listing sites in the county in need of preservation.
Included are Elder Mill and remnants of an ancient native settlement along the Oconee River, a nearby fort, and a mill town.
In 2008, Page, Tony Glenn, Charlie Baugh, and I told the Board of Commissioners we were going to start video recording meetings ourselves. The Board had rejected numerous requests that it do so on its own.
The Commission agreed to start recording its meetings itself three weeks later.
Page also contributed to this blog by video recording a variety of governmental meetings for me.
Obituary Details
Page is survived by his wife, Joan, children, Kim Perry (Rob) and Bret Page (Mary), two grandchildren: Elizabeth Lamb (Will) and Nick Perry (Molly), and three great-granddaughters, Hazel, Thea, and Millie (due in January).
Russ is also survived by his three brothers, Fred (Kathy), Jimmy, and Tommy (Kathie), and Joan’s siblings, Steve (Anita), Cheryl, and Brad (Nancy), with whom he shared many cherished memories.
He was preceded in death by his parents.
The family is grateful to the Reverend Caroline Jinkins and the caring congregation of Little Chapel on the Boardwalk for being tremendous friends.
In place of flowers, donations may be made to Little Chapel on the Boardwalk or Lower Cape Fear LifeCare in Page’s memory.
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