Judy Russ donated Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree to honor late husband

It’s the most wonder-fir time of the year!

This year’s massive — and New York-born — Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is slated to put down its roots in the Manhattan square Saturday, fulfilling a family’s longtime dream of sharing its magnificence with the world.

Judy Russ says the donation is an ode to her late husband Dan, who cherished the tree on their Rensselaer County farmland for years before he tragically died in 2020 at just 32 years old.

“As my husband has passed away, I know he would have loved to have been here for this moment,” Russ told NBC correspondent Joe Fryer on “Today” Friday.

“We always talked about it being the (Rockefeller Center) tree. It’s so special that my family’s tree gets to be America’s, if not the world’s, Christmas tree.”

Russ made it her mission to bring Dan’s memory to the world after she brought the couple’s 7-year-old son, Liam, to see last year’s slightly smaller Norway spruce.

That 74-foot and 11-inch tall tree hailed from West Stockbridge, Mass., and its lumber was later returned to the Bay State to be used in 42 Habitat for Humanity homes.

Russ couldn’t help but think back to the tree growing in her East Greenbush backyard — which Dan had joked needed a crane to properly decorate it for the holidays.

The sprawling spruce, which Liam used as his own personal jungle gym, was planted by Dan’s great-grandparents approximately 75 years ago on their historic farm, and was continuously cherished even as it was passed down to the Russes when they moved into the home in 2017.

Judy Russ formally applied for their beloved tree to be the next Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree in July, and she took it a step further by using some family connections to get a picture of the spruce directly into the hands of the center’s head gardener, Erik Pauze.

It took just one personal visit to the upstate farm for Pauze to declare it the perfect choice.

“I think I just hallucinated, like, ‘We need to go back because there’s no way this is real, right?’” she told “Today.”

Little Liam was elated, gushing, “I’m excited that the whole world can see it.”

The tree was cut down on Thursday and will make its grand arrival at Rockefeller Center on Saturday morning, with the annual lighting ceremony to follow on Dec. 3.

The experience is bittersweet for Russ, who said the 50,000 lights on the tree will shine in the memory of her husband and Liam’s father.

“Well, I cry at home in my living room when the tree is lit, so I’m probably going to be inconsolable that day, but it’s going to be great,” Russ said.

“Spread joy, spread cheer, love one another. Think of our family, think of my husband, think of us,” she added.

“We’re just happy to share it with everybody.”