The Reverend Vera Bush

The Reverend Vera Arndt Bush entered life eternal on Wednesday, December 18, 2013 at her home in West Simsbury. She was 92. Vera Arndt was born in 1921 in Hamburg, Germany. At a very young age she and her parents moved to Argentina seeking escape from the devastation of post WWI Germany, and then in 1925 moved on to New York City, where they settled and Vera grew up. She attended Barnard College and in 1941 received a degree in German literature, after which she worked in the aviation industry for the WWII war effort. In 1944 she met and married Walter Bush, and they settled on Long Island. Vera had a thoughtful and inquiring temperament, and she was ill at ease with the passive role of housewife after her children had left for college. She pursued and received an MA in Teaching from Wesleyan University in 1971. She then turned to the Lutheran Church, in which she was active her entire life, and determined on a career of ministry. She attended Yale University Divinity School and received the degree of Master of Divinity in 1974, and she was ordained a Lutheran minister in 1975 - the second woman in the New England Synod to receive that honor. She continued her study at Andover Newton Theological School and received the degree of Doctor of Ministry in 1982. Vera received several calls, or formal appointments, during her ministry period: as Chaplain at Hartford Hospital, Pastoral Counselor at the Worcester Pastoral Counseling Center, and Pastoral Psychotherapist at the Pastoral Counseling Center at First Church of Christ Congregational West Hartford. She also served by appointment of the Synod as Pastor at Saint Peters Lutheran Church in Cornwall Connecticut in 1977-78. During her career she traveled and preached at many Lutheran parishes around southern New England. Vera's other very significant talent was singing. She belonged to the prestigious Handel and Hayden Society Chorale during the years that the family lived in the Boston area, and in Connecticut sang for many years with the Hartford Symphony Chorale. In her lifetime she sang in choirs in many churches and often as soloist. As pastor she frequently conducted the divine service with the sung liturgy. Vera was predeceased by her husband Walter. She is survived by her son Jeff and wife Celia, her daughter Priscilla and husband Bart Tablante, and grandchildren Ana and Dan Nunes, Bartley and Courtney Tablante, and Teddy. A service will be held at Saint Matthew Lutheran Church in Avon on Saturday, December 21, 2013 at 2 PM. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to St. Matthew Lutheran Church, 224 Lovely Street, Avon, CT 06001 or the ELCA World Hunger Appeal, P.O. Box 71764 Chicago, IL 60694-1764 or at www.elca.org/hunger. Please visit Vera's "Book of Memories" at www.vincentfuneralhome.com for online condolences.