When Russell Paul Atkins was born on 19 January 1911, in Hardin, Big Horn, Montana, United States, his father, Thomas William Atkins, was 40 and his mother, Clara Alma Moore, was 36. He married Clara Elnora Hershberger on 29 August 1929, in Billings, Yellowstone, Montana, United States. He lived in School District 17 Paragon, Custer, Montana, United States in 1920 and Bozeman, Gallatin, Montana, United States in 1930. He died on 30 November 1997, in Absarokee, Stillwater, Montana, United States, at the age of 86.