65 years.
They passed away within several months of each other earlier this year, Norma on March 17 and Russell on June 4, after decades together in the honey business.
Since the mid-1960s Mitchell Brothers Honey, the company that Russell, his father William Wesley, and brother Norman founded in Missoula in 1956, has donated a jar of honey to each blue ribbon winner in the ‘made with honey' class of the culinary competition.
This year the best in show winner received a beeswax angel candle made in memory of the Mitchells.
The candle went to 18-year-old Vinny Sanchelli who, with his honey-drenched baklava, won best in show in both the made with honey and men's only classes.
Honey runs in the Mitchell family.
Russell was a third generation beekeeper, his grandfather having dabbled in the business when the family lived in Shelley, Idaho.
Mitchell Brothers Honey is now owned and operated by Russell's son William.
This summer William's grandson, 15-year-old Justin Berg, is working his first summer with the company, becoming the first sixth generation Mitchell in the business and a testament to the family's apparent genetic proclivity to beekeeping.
Russell's life with bees got going when he was not much more than a toddler. He had his first hives when he was in elementary school and by the time he graduated from high school he had 300 active hives and had won national recognition for his beekeeping.
His one pound honeycombs won him a stream of steady customers.
Norma came into his life the spring of his senior year at Shelley High School in 1941 when the 16-year-old farm girl and Russell met at Russell's grandparents house. The couple was married on December 31 before Russell left to serve as a Navy chef during World War II.
Deathly allergic to bees, Norma played the vital role of bookkeeper for their honey business while her husband was out in the stacks.
“She kept the books and kept us straight with the government,” Norman said. “She knew how to work and how to keep things in order.”
Honey wasn't just the Mitchell's livelihood. The sticky, golden substance seeped into many parts of their daily lives.
Their grandaughter Shawna Berg spent much of her childhood out at her grandparents' honey operation.
“Honey was part of the everyday routine,” she said. “Creamed honey was the dessert after every meal.”
Both Norma and Russell were active throughout their lives in the state and national beekeeping associations.
Troy Fore, executive director of the American Beekeeping Federation, said he remembered the energy the couple brought to the national organization.
“They were always willing to jump in, take part and do what they could do,” he said.
At the national honey show, their honey know-how made them a force to be reckoned with every year.
“They were always competitive in that and frequently won blue ribbons,” Fore said. “They were always tough competition.”
Before the Mitchells came to Missoula, there was no “made with honey” class at the fair, according to their daughter Julie Ann Thurman.
After several years of lobbying, the fair board finally came around and, in return, the Mitchells agreed to donate one pound of honey and large, golden ribbons for each blue ribbon winner.
Though Russell retired from the business in 1982, the tradition has been carried on by their son William.
The Western Montana Fair was one of the biggest events of the year for the Mitchells. Norma, whose talents included far more than bookkeeping, competed prolifically at the fair. Besides her famous creamed honey, Norma entered her crocheting, weaving, candles, and zipper art.
Julie said her inability to sit still helped with her productivity.
“She couldn't sit down and just watch TV,” she said. “She had to be crocheting, knitting or doing something with her hands.”
When Julie and William were cleaning out their parents' house after their deaths, Julie discovered that her mother had kept all of her “mostly blue” ribbons. There were “hundreds” of them, according to Julie.
Their commitment to the fair didn't wane after their retirement in the early '80s, acccording to William.
“They'd pull their motor home up to the agriculture building at the start of fair week, pay for the whole fair and stay until the end,” he said. “Their grandkids would go into the motorhome and rest up, eat, and then go back to the rides.”
According to Julie, Norma and Russell spent as much time together as possible over their 65 years. Because of her allergy, they were really only apart when Russell was working with the bees.
“They did everything together,” Julie said.
After Norma's death the family was sad, but not surprised, when Russell went to join her shortly thereafter.
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