When Russell Edgar Tatro was born on 1 January 1917, in Starksboro, Addison, Vermont, United States, his father, Powell Edgar Tatro, was 31 and his mother, Otta May Hill, was 29. He married Alma Harriet Hanson on 25 June 1936, in Starksboro, Addison, Vermont, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son. He died on 10 October 2003, in Middlebury, Addison, Vermont, United States, at the age of 86, and was buried in Starksboro, Addison, Vermont, United States.