Katie Ruth Bush

Katie Ruth Field Bush died peacefully in the afternoon of February 15, 2009 in her home, with her husband of 66 years, Fred M. Bush, Jr., at her side along with other family members. She had been ill with cancer since November. She was 92.
Her life was marked with excellence in education, unselfish service to the greater community, creative and insightful leadership for women and families, and a lifelong partnership with her husband.
Born on August 24, 1916 in Centerville, Mississippi to Catherine Byrne Field and Jennings Pemble Field, Katie grew up in Centerville, Merigold, and Magee, Mississippi. She graduated from Magee High School in 1933. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1937 followed by a Masters degree summa cum laude from the University of Tennessee in 1940.
In 1942, Katie Ruth Field married Fred Marshall Bush, Jr., Lt. JG United States Navy in the chapel of the United States Naval Academy, his alma mater. Fred Bush has always maintained that May 8, 1942 was the happiest day of his life. This wedding marked the beginning of a long life of love, family, community and country for this special couple.
While her husband's ship was operating out of New York during World War II, she was serving the country in her own way. From her apartment in the East 30's, she walked daily to Harlem to teach nursery school. During her life she worked as a teacher at all levels of the educational ladder: preschool, elementary school, high school and college. After the war ended and during the 1950's, she was an associate professor at the University of Mississippi, at which time she created and taught a popular course, "Marriage and the Family," as well as courses in child development. Her interest in the family and its well-being led her to her first teaching duties following graduation in 1940: the supervising of nursery schools in Mississippi for underprivileged children. She also trained the teachers of those nursery schools.
In the 1960's, Katie began teaching elementary students in the Lee County School system. She quickly realized that much of her time in the classroom was spent caring for her students' physical needs rather than actually teaching. To solve this problem, Katie proposed a plan and obtained funding to hire teachers' assistants. George McClain saw the need and his foundation founded a pilot program for the Tupelo Public School system. The program was well received and is now widely used. Subsequently, as an unpaid consultant working with others in the community, she authored a grant proposal to address the issues of poverty and education in Tupelo. She named the proposed program "Lift." It was one of the first integrated programs in the area. She became the program director serving several years in that capacity.
She helped organized the Meals on Wheels program with colleague Bill Carroll at Traceway Manor in Tupelo and supervised it for its first year. With a talent for grantsmanship, she wrote many grant proposals for mental health services in Tupelo, Columbus and Starkville. She also served as a member of the State Mental Health Board.
Katie served on the State of Mississippi Parent-Teacher Association Board of Directors, as a volunteer on the State Board of the Red Cross, and as a director of the Mississippi Mental Health Association. She was President of the Mississippi State YWCA.
Katie was a member of the All Saints Episcopal Church in Tupelo. There she served in many capacities, including serving on the Religious Education Committee, the Finance Committee, and as Junior and Senior warden -- the first woman to serve in this capacity.
With all these activities, her most cherished role was as mother to her family of three sons. As the sons' families increased, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren have had the pleasure of her company.
Katie established a scholarship program in honor of her parents, the Byrne-Field Memorial Fund, administered by Create, to provide assistance to a deserving graduate of each of the four high schools in Lee County and a graduate student scholarship at the University of Southern Mississippi.
In addition to her husband, she is survived by her three sons: Frederick Marshall (Mike) Bush, III, Carl Jennings Bush, Richard Stewart Bush and wife Arla; six grandchildren: Frederick Marshall Bush, IV and his wife Jahara de Vlieger, Grant Hansen Bush, Jason Richard Bush and wife Courtney, Lisa Christina Bush and husband Enrique Avila, Andrew Jennings Bush and wife Jennifer, and Matthew Edward Bush; two great-grandchildren: Anna Claire Bush and Caroline Elizabeth Bush; and by many other family members. Katie was preceded in death by her mother and father, by her brothers, Jennings Pemble Field, Jr. and Joseph LeRoy Field, and by her sister, Alice Elizabeth Field Messer.
Her six grandchildren will serve as pallbearers.
During her later years, she was attended by several loving caregivers: Lisa Aldridge, James Warren, Linda Thompson, Donna Freeman, Mary Elzie and Carla Johnston.
Funeral services will be at All Saints Episcopal Church, 608 West Jefferson Street, Tupelo, Mississippi, on Thursday, February 19, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. Visitation will be at the church at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be sent to Byrne Field Memorial Fund at Create, Inc., Tupelo, Mississippi or to All Saints Episcopal Church.