Russert was born in Buffalo, New York, the son of Elizabeth "Betty" (nee Seeley; January 9, 1929 - August 14, 2005), a homemaker, and Timothy Joseph "Big Russ" Russert (November 29, 1923 - September 24, 2009), a sanitation worker. Elizabeth and Joseph were married for 30 years, before separating in 1976. Russert was the only son and the second of four children; his sisters are Betty Ann (B.A.), Kathleen (Kathy) and Patricia (Trish). His parents were Catholics, and he had German and Irish ancestry.
Death
Shortly after 1:30 pm on June 13, 2008, Russert collapsed at the offices of WRC-TV, which houses the Washington, D.C. bureau of NBC News where he was chief. He was recording voiceovers for the Sunday edition of Meet the Press. In a speech he gave at the Kennedy Center, Brian Williams said that Russert's last words were, "What's happening?" spoken as a greeting to NBC Washington bureau editing supervisor Candace Harrington as he passed her in the hallway. He then walked down the hallway to record voiceovers in the soundproof booth and collapsed. A co-worker began to perform CPR on him. The District of Columbia Fire and Rescue service received a call from NBC at 1:40 pm, and dispatched an EMS unit which arrived at 1:44 pm. Paramedics attempted to defibrillate Russert's heart three times, but he did not respond. Russert was then transported to Sibley Memorial Hospital, arriving at 2:23 pm, where he was pronounced dead. He was 58 years old.  In accordance with American journalistic tradition, the public announcement of Russert's death was withheld by the wire services and his network's competitors, until Russert's family had been notified. Retired NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw then delivered, live on NBC, CNBC, and MSNBC, the news of his death. NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams was on assignment in Afghanistan and could not anchor the special report. CBS and ABC also interrupted programming to report Russert's death. Armen Keteyian reported the news for CBS and Charles Gibson reported for ABC. Russert had just returned from a family vacation in Rome, Italy, where he had celebrated his son's graduation from Boston College. While his wife and son remained in Rome, Russert had returned to prepare for his Sunday television show.  Russert's longtime friend and physician, Dr. Michael Newman, said that his asymptomatic coronary artery disease had been controlled with medication (LDL-C was <70 mg/dL) and exercise, and that he had performed well on a stress test in late April. An autopsy performed on the day of his death determined that his history of coronary artery disease led to a myocardial infarction (heart attack) and ventricular fibrillation with the immediate cause being an occlusive coronary thrombosis in the left anterior descending artery resulting from a ruptured cholesterol plaque.  Russert is buried at Rock Creek Cemetery. The Newseum in Washington, D.C., exhibited a re-creation of Russert's office with original elements such as his desks, bookshelves, folders, loose leaf papers and notebooks. In August 2014, the exhibit was disassembled at the Newseum and transported to the Buffalo History Museum. The exhibit entitled "Inside Tim Russert's Office: If it's Sunday It's Meet the Press", opened in October 2014 with Luke Russert and others giving opening remarks. The exhibit can be viewed during the normal business hours of the Buffalo History Museum.

Q: What year did Russert die?
A: 2008,

Q: What was the cause of death?
A: asymptomatic coronary artery disease

Q: How old was he when he died?
A: 58
Was he married when he died?
his wife
his wife