Ancestor Sketch
Family line: Brown-Montran
By Don Taylor
Identity Question
Probably c. 1948
How did Russell Erwin Kees — born Russell Erwin Clark Amsterdam to Madonna Mae Montran and Samson Clark Amsterdam, and later known by an unofficial surname taken from his mother’s partner (a coincidental namesake) — build a life across Panama, Michigan, Illinois, Kwajalein, and Arizona, and what really explains the death certificate’s claim of “Secret Service”?
Vital Facts
| Birth name | Russell Erwin Clark Amsterdam |
| Birth | August 29, 1927, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan — first child of Samson Clark Amsterdam and Madonna Mae Montran |
| Death | March 16, 2016, Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona (age 88) |
| Burial | National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona, Phoenix — Section H3, Row B, Site 39 |
| Cause of death | Metastatic prostate cancer, Stage IV; contributing: severe COPD, hypertension, ischemic cardiomyopathy |
| Occupation | Electrician, Detroit (per 1950 census), before Korean War service; required a Top Secret Crypto clearance for a later job, complicated by his unofficial name change to Kees — likely the real source of the death certificate’s unsupported “Secret Service” entry; spent many later years on Kwajalein Island in community theater and, per family recollection, radar/systems technician work |
| Military service | Korean War, c. 1951 (not WWII) — recalled a strafing attack on his jeep during service |
| Education | Graduated from Southwestern High School, Detroit, January 1945; noted as an excellent roller skater |
| Marriages | (1) Delphine Ann Sieradski, 1954, Detroit — divorced quickly, no children; (2) Jacqueline R. Wigfield, August 1, 1958, Cook County, IL — divorced c. 1964, no children; (3) June Elsie Callaway, March 22, 1965, Peoria, IL — divorced 1968, one daughter |
| Child | [living daughter], born 1965; two grandchildren |
| Interests | Theater (starred in many Kwajalein community productions); accomplished pianist (“Flight of the Bumble Bee”; recorded himself playing “Beautiful Mother of Mine,” written by his mother in 1923); avid golfer, winning age-group tournaments in his 70s |
| Residence at death | 2050 W Dunlap Ave, B162, Phoenix, AZ 85021 |
| Informant | Margaret Joan Glidden, Executrix |
Migration & Residence Timeline
• 1927 — Born in Detroit, Michigan, as Russell Erwin Clark Amsterdam.
• 1927–1930 — Traveled with show-business parents; Sammy and Madonna went to the Panama Canal Zone for vaudeville work after the Depression-era circuit collapsed. Departed Balboa, Panama, March 27, 1930, arriving in New York, April 8, 1930.
• 1932 — Parents divorced; Sammy settled in New York, Madonna and Russell in Chicago.
• c. 1936 — Chicago, Cook County, Illinois.
• 1937 — Madonna became involved with Russell Harrison Kees; family moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan; Russell (the son) and his half-sister adopted the Kees surname informally.
• 1940 — Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan (1421 Fair Street), per 1940 census.
• c. 1942 — Moved to Detroit following the death of Harvey Knight (Madonna’s stepfather).
• c. 1944 — Moved in with grandmother Ida Mae (Barber) Knight in Detroit.
• 1945 — Graduated Southwestern High School, Detroit (commencement January 1945).
• 1950 — Detroit (1456 Lawndale), working as an electrician, per 1950 census.
Source: Don Taylor
• c. 1951 — Korean War military service.
• 1953 — After grandmother Ida’s death, decided to “go out west” to find his natural father, whom he hadn’t seen since age five; lost touch with the family for roughly 50 years.
• Later years — Kwajalein Island, Marshall Islands, active in community theater.
• 2002 — Located by Don via Classmates.com after ~50 years out of contact; reunited with his sister, an event filmed by “60 Minutes II.”
• By March 2016 — Phoenix, Arizona (2050 W Dunlap Ave, B162), where he died.
Family Connections
Russell was the son of Madonna Montran (stage name Donna Darling; also recorded as Donna Knight and Donna Kees) and Samson “Sammy” Amsterdam, born Russell Erwin Clark Amsterdam. Madonna’s mother, Ida Mae Barber, had married Harvey Knight, which accounts for the “Donna Knight” name on Russell’s death certificate and birth record — a stepfather’s surname, not a further marriage of Madonna’s own; this is the only known record where Madonna is referred to by that name.
Sammy and Madonna divorced in 1932; Russell remained with his mother in Chicago. Madonna later had a daughter with Richard Brown — making Russell her half-brother, five years her senior and protective of her growing up.
Madonna never formally married Russell Harrison Kees, her partner from about 1937 (a coincidental namesake, not related to how her son Russell came to share the first name). Neither Russell nor his half-sister were ever legally adopted by him, though both used the Kees surname informally.
In 1950, the half-sister married Paul Larson; this marriage was later annulled and expunged from all records once it emerged that Larson had never divorced his existing wife. She continued using the surname Larson until marrying Edgar Matson in 1961 — her son (the author) likewise used the surname Larson from his earliest memory until 1962.
was filmed by a crew from “60 Minutes II”
Russell married three times — Delphine Ann Sieradski (1954, quickly divorced), Jacqueline R. Wigfield (1958, divorced c. 1964), and June Elsie Callaway (1965, divorced 1968) — with a daughter from the Callaway marriage. After decades out of contact, Don located Russell in 2002 through a Classmates.com outreach campaign to his 1944–45 Southwestern High School classmates, leading to a filmed reunion with his sister that drew the attention of “60 Minutes II.”
Research Notes
The unofficial and never-legalized Kees name change reportedly caused Russell difficulty in the 1950s when he sought a Top Secret Crypto security clearance for his job — this is very likely the true story behind the death certificate’s unsupported “Secret Service” occupation entry, which was probably an informant’s garbling of a security-cleared technical position rather than actual Secret Service employment.
The death certificate’s parentage fields reflect the surnames in use at different points in Madonna’s life rather than a single consistent identity, which is a useful caution for anyone else researching this line by name alone: a search for “Kees” in 1940 or 1950 census records turns up the household, while earlier records may show “Amsterdam.”
Sources
- Arizona Department of Health Services, Office of Vital Records. Certificate of Death for Russell E. Kees, State File No. 102-2016-012134, registered March 22, 2016, issued June 27, 2016.
- Michigan Birth Certificate, State File No. 121-582-0201178.
- 1940 U.S. Federal Census, Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan; Enumeration District 86-156.
- 1950 U.S. Federal Census, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan; Enumeration District 85-2017.
- Michigan Death Certificates, Ida Mae Knight, Detroit Vital Records, Local File No. 13031.
- New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925–1957; Year: 1930 (arrival from Balboa, Panama).
- Cook County, Illinois Marriage Index, 1930–1960.
- Find A Grave Memorial #161134930 — Russell Erwin Kees.
- Family Tree Maker “Smart Story” compilation, Brown-Montran_2026.pdf (personal files).
- Don Taylor, Don Taylor Genealogy, “In Memoriam – Russell Erwin Kees (1927–2016),” posted June 26, 2016, dontaylorgenealogy.com/2016/06/in-memoriam-russell-erwin-kees-1927-2016.