De Bush

De Bush passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, February 22, 2025, at Gritman Medical Center in Moscow, ID, surrounded by family.

This amazing, caring, courageous, and resilient woman was born July 31, 1943, in Freeport, IL to Laura & Joseph DeWall.  When she was four, the family moved to southeast Arizona where she grew up on a ranch in Willcox with her three siblings.  At an early age, De learned the value of dedication, hard work, and compassion.  Sewing her own clothes, raising rabbits to sell, delivering fresh milk, summertime canning, marching band, school and church choirs all kept De busy and happy during her school years.

At a USO dance in Tucson, AZ, she met Airman George Edgar Bush.  They were married in a Willcox church in December 1964.  That began her life as a military spouse.  She was proud of her husband and looked forward to exploring new places wherever he was stationed.  She moved 11 times over the next 20 years from Wyoming, California, Texas, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Washington, and several short-stay moves in-between – and she enjoyed each one of them.  De was fond of saying that each location was unique and enjoyable in its own way.

While her children were small, she was active at their schools, volunteering as the school nurse and field trip chaperone, as well as assisting in the classroom at every school they attended.  Being a member of the USAF Officer’s Wives Club gave her the opportunity to learn more through the stories and adventures of the other wives – gourmet cooking classes that put on ethnic themed meals, craft classes and holiday parties all added to enriching her life with the opportunities they gave her.

Church was a large part of De’s life – teaching children’s church, Sunday school, VBS, and church scouts; leading the children’s choir; attending women’s bible study and singing in the choir – all gave her a sense of belonging and community in each town she lived in.  Even with all these outside activities, she never let her children forget that she loved them and supported them in whatever they did.  Even after retirement, De was still active in the two local churches she attended frequently.

As her children grew, she welcomed the chance to expand her horizons.  It was the heyday of the “home party” – Tupperware, Copper Craft, Tiara Glassware, Princess House, Holiday Magic – she hosted them all.  Never wanting to draw attention to herself, she was the perfect hostess that let the product and the saleswoman shine.  De enjoyed hosting these parties as well as group potlucks and meetings in her home, to be able to share her knack for cooking and baking with her friends.

In 1988, De earned her AA degree in Nursing from Green River Community College in Auburn, WA, followed by her LPN from Highline Community College in 1989.  Then began her “official” career in nursing, after years of being a volunteer school nurse while her children were in school.

To assist her younger sister in taking care of their mother, De moved to Benson, AZ in 1989.  Working at an OB/GYN’s office, she discovered she had a skill for comforting and instructing new mothers, as well as soothing fussy babies.

A few years later, De found her true calling as a Home Health and Hospice nurse.  Being able to help and comfort patients on a one-on-one basis was where De excelled.  Her compassion, empathy, old-school principles, and being able to “talk their language” instead of using medical jargon made her very popular – patients would often call the office and ask for the “tall, dark-haired nurse” to come visit.  Several home health patients became long-time friends.

De would tell you that she was a “shy, reserved person” – but don’t let that description fool you.  That might have been true in a group setting, but De could talk to anyone, conveying a sense of calm, acceptance and true empathy.  This made nursing the perfect profession for her.

In 2002, after picking up her daughter in Seattle, WA, they started on a cross-country road trip, heading for Arizona.  De suggested going through Idaho since neither had ever been there.  While driving through Moscow, she fell in love with the area, especially the large fields of golden waving wheat.  After checking at the local Good Samaritan Nursing Home, she discovered they were looking for nurses.  De was working at a Good Samaritan Nursing Home in Arizona at the time, and a transfer was easily arranged.  She moved to Moscow in January 2003.

In Moscow, she continued nursing in various capacities until her health made it necessary to retire in 2007.  Even though she was no longer practicing nursing, she still helped where she could by volunteering at Gritman Medical Center and with the two local churches she regularly attended.  De’s love for music was not diminished, even though she could no longer sing – she still loved music and regularly attended the UI and WSU student and professor recitals.

Now that De was retired, she enjoyed several free flowing, extremely flexible cross-country road trips with her North Carolina based daughter, visiting many national and state sites along the way.  Even though the starting and ending points were usually the same (Fayetteville, NC and Moscow, ID), they never took the same route twice.  There was just too much to explore and discover in this beautiful country of ours.  Nothing was booked or scheduled beforehand, so the route could change at a moment’s notice.  They would pull out the atlas, find a few national parks that they hadn’t visited yet, and then look for interesting things along the way to connect everything together.  These unconstrained road trips brought a sense of adventure and wonder that she found exhilarating.

De enjoyed sharing her travel experiences with patients and friends.  From exploring the Revolutionary War battle roads in Massachusetts riding behind her husband on his Honda motorcycle; relaxing into the rhythmic plodding of a donkey on a ride to the bottom of the Grand Canyon; cruising up the lazy Mississippi River on the Delta Queen paddleboat; gazing out at the magnificent Alaskan glaciers; feeling the cadence of the rails on a train to San Francisco – everywhere she went there was something new to give her a sense of wonder.

There were a few international adventures De shared with her children.  In Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles, the woman who couldn’t swim and was afraid of the water, learned to snorkel with her daughter.  On a cruise in the Caribbean, she allowed her daughter to tow her while she snorkeled, enjoying the underwater beauty 80 feet deep beneath her.  In Ireland, De enjoyed hearing live Irish music while being amazed by classic Irish dancing and enjoying authentic Irish Stew.  On a trip to the Bahamas with her son, De was adventurous enough to climb a tree – something she hadn’t done since her childhood.  De knew she had a good support system for when she wanted to stretch her wings and try something new.

In 2005, her son relocated from Fallon, NV, to Moscow to be closer to and help his mother.  De enjoyed having someone to cook for again, as well as having someone to explore the nearby attractions with.  One of her final adventures was to explore Little Bighorn National Battlefield with her son and his wife. On their way home, they saw an authentic Indian pow wow and De enjoyed a ride on the Missoula carousel.

Whatever her children were interested in at the time, De tried her best to support them.  Most of the time it worked.  When her son got into role-playing games, she was a little lost – but she enjoyed seeing the passion and excitement in his eyes and hearing the enthusiasm in his voice while he told her about it.  When her daughter took a job on a cruise ship, she encouraged her wanderlust, even though it took her far away for months at a time.

Over the years, De amassed a cherished collection of butterflies, horses (especially carousel horses), and angels.  The uniqueness of each rendition, where it came from, and who picked it out with love for her, made each item in her collection one of her favorites.  On her travels, she enjoyed visiting butterfly houses to watch these delicate creatures gently flutter by; seeking out unique churches and grottos to marvel at their depictions of heavenly angels; driving by huge fields with horses to watch these graceful animals; and going to carousels to listen to the calliope and watch (sometimes ride) the festively decorated carousel animals.

De enjoyed reading and had a large personal library to choose from – cozy mysteries, innocent romance, heart-tugging animal stories, uplifting inspirational, and light suspense all took her to far off places.  When she wanted to explore somewhere exotic, all she had to do was look at her National Geographic book collection to learn about the ancient past to present day marvels.

If she wasn’t in the mood for reading, De also had an expansive variety of classic movies to enjoy.  Cary Grant, Errol Flynn, Roy Rogers (to name just a few), all shared the screen with Doris Day, Grace Kelly, Julie Andrews, Esther Williams, and others.  De might not remember the correct name of the movie, but she could still find her favorite musicals, light romance, Hitchcock thrillers, gentle comedy, mysteries, classic Disney and westerns to share with her friends.

De Bush was a beautiful, strong, cheerful woman who honored her Christian belief to “love one another” and the healthcare standard to “do no harm.”  Her love, compassion, sympathy, honesty, and beautiful smile will be missed by all who ever met her.

She is survived by her daughter, Lorraine and her husband, Neal MacArtor of Fayetteville, NC, son Ryan Bush and his wife, Obsidian Van Zant of Moscow, ID, sister Roxie Leidner of Cottonwood, AZ, and brother Alfred and wife, Janice DeWall of Flagstaff, AZ, and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews.

A ceremony will be held on Friday, April 25, 2025, at 1pm at Short’s Funeral Chapel in Moscow, ID.  A reception will follow at the Moscow Church of the Nazarene in their Fellowship Hall located next door.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to one of De’s longtime favorite charities -- Guiding Eyes For The Blind, 611 Granite Springs Rd, Yorktown Heights, NY  10598, www.donate.guidingeyes.org ~ OR ~ National Park Foundation, 1500 K Street NW, Suite 700, Washington DC 20005, www.give.nationalparks.org

Guiding Eyes For The Blind
611 Granite Springs Rd, Yorktown Heights NY 10598
Tel: 1-800-942-0149
Web: https://give.guidingeyes.org/Donate

National Park Foundation
1500 K Street NW Suite 700, Washington DC DC 20005
Tel: 1-800-628-7275
Email: donorservices@nationalparks.org
Web: https://give.nationalparks.org/site/Donation2?df_id=9065&9065.donation=form1&mfc_pref=T&s_subsrc=25D