Saratoga Springs, NY - Russell M. Priester, of West Circular Street, passed away Sunday (May 26, 2013) at Saratoga Hospital. He was 86. Born on Sept. 27, 1926 in Saratoga Springs, he is a son of the late Jacob E. and Helen (Trautwein) Priester and was a lifelong city resident. A graduate of Saratoga Springs High School, where he participated in baseball and basketball, he received a four year athletic scholarship to Clarkson College of Technology, later taking graduate studies at SUNY Albany. He worked for the Saratoga County Department of Social Services for thirty years and retired as Commissioner in 1991. He also was employed for 43 years at the Saratoga Harness Race Track, retiring in 1986 as night office manager of Admissions. An ordained deacon in the First Presbyterian Church of Saratoga Springs, he served for 19 years until the Broadway church was destroyed by fire in January, 1976. An avid golfer, he was a charter member of the Brookhaven Golf Club, and a life member of the following: Saratoga Rising Sun Masonic Lodge 103, Oriental Shriners in Troy and the Saratoga-Wilton B.P.O. Elks Lodge 161. In addition to his parents, he is predeceased by two sons, Dean R. and Russell Priester, Jr. Survivors include his wife, Marion (Ball) Priester, whom he married on April 17, 1948; two daughters, Candace (John) Petralia and Kimberly (Brad) Saville and one granddaughter, Amy Petralia, all of Saratoga Springs. Relatives and friends may call from 9 to 11am Saturday, June 1, 2013 at the William J. Burke & Sons/Bussing and Cunniff Funeral Homes, 628 North Broadway 584-5373. Services will be conducted at 11am Saturday at the funeral home and burial will follow in the family plot at Greenridge Cemetery, Lincoln Ave. Memorials may be made in his name to any of the following charities: American Leukemia Society, the Juvenile Diabetes Assoc., Shriners Hospitals for Children or the National Arthritis Foundation. Online remembrances may be made at www.burkefuneralhome.com.