Widow Honors Late Husband By Donating Beloved Family Tree To Rockefeller Center

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Widow Shares The Emotional Reason She Donated This Year’s Rockefeller Christmas (Roy Rochlin / Contributor / Getty Images) (Photo by Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting Takes Place December 3

Every year, New York City’s holiday season is marked by the arrival of a single iconic tree that turns Midtown Manhattan into a scene of enchantment. Standing tall above Rockefeller Plaza, the Rockefeller Christmas Tree shines with an impressive 50,000 LED lights, symbolizing celebration, hope, and a sense of unity.

Typically a Norway spruce standing between 69 and 100 feet tall, the tree has served as a national holiday tradition every year since 1933. The trees are typically gifted to Rockefeller Center, which later repurposes and donates the lumber once the holiday season comes to an end.

This year, the donated tree carried a particularly heartfelt significance.

Standing tall at 75 feet high, the Norway spruce from East Greenbush, New York, brings with it a legacy shaped by family and long-held traditions. The Russ family, who donated the tree, nurtured it on their property for over six decades, where it framed countless family milestones and celebrations.

For years, Dan Russ told his wife that the massive tree, which stood across the yard, was so beautiful it could be used as the Rockefeller Christmas tree.

“It just kind of opened up the conversation that this tree is big enough,” Judy Russ, Dan’s wife, said. “If we need to rent a crane to decorate it, we have something big here.”

Five years ago, Dan tragically passed away at the age 32, but this year Judy was determined to make his dream a reality. She shared that as the tree was taken away and heading on its journey into New York City, a rare bald eagle flew by, symbolizing Dan was lovingly watching from above.

“It just made us feel like Dan was there,” Judy shared. “If he was ever going to send some kind of symbol that he was guiding this tree out, giving us his blessing, giving the family’s blessing, it would be a bald eagle.”

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A Tree That Has Spanned For Generations

Planted almost eighty years ago by Dan’s great-grandparents, Edward and Mattie May Doran, the spruce came to embody the very essence of a family tree.

The property near the tree was the wedding site for Dan’s grandparents and, years later, his sister. In 2017, shortly after moving in, Dan and Judy celebrated the arrival of their son Liam, marking the fifth generation to live under its shade.

“I wasn’t prepared for how empty it would look,” Judy said. “So, I was a little sad, but the happiness of where it’s going and the history of Rock Center and all the joy it gets to spread for Christmas cheer, definitely overtakes the sadness of seeing it gone.”

Judy shared that Rockefeller Center using the tree is filling a “massive hole” for the family following Dan’s passing.

“We are so thrilled that this family tree gets to be the world’s tree,” she said.

You can watch more of Dan and Judy’s emotional story below.

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