Frank E. “Red” Russell wasn’t just a company founder and its first manager. He also served on the Tucson City Council, helped start Tucson’s volunteer fire department and served as fire chief from 1898 to 1903 and again from 1905 to 1906.
As if he wasn’t busy enough, Red also sold and repaired electrical equipment, mechanical goods and bicycles through a private business that operated in the Electric Light & Power Company’s downtown office.