Patricia Bush

Patricia Redfearn Bush passed away on November 10, 2015, at the age of 77. Patty was born in Greenville, S.C., the daughter of Theron and Louisa Martin Redfearn. She attended St. Catherine's School and Bennett College before transferring to Vassar. In 1959 she married William H.T. Bush, the youngest of Sen. Prescott and Dorothy Bush's five children. She made homes for her family in New Haven, Conn., Columbus, Ga., Hartford and Greenwich, Conn., London, England and ultimately St. Louis, Mo. and Hobe Sound, Fla. Her many civic accomplishments included working with Charles Cunningham to establish the first docent training program at Wadsworth Athenaeum in Hartford. She continued her studies in art history, and after moving to St. Louis served as a docent at the Art Museum there for more than 30 years. She also served on the Museum's board of Trustees and as its President. She loved classical music, which led her to serve on the board of the Opera Theater of St. Louis. Just as profound as her love of fine art was her devotion to plants. She was a member of garden clubs in Hartford, St. Louis, Jupiter Island, and the Hortulus Garden Club in Greenwich, Conn, of which her mother-in-law, Dorothy Walker Bush, was a member and her daughter Louisa is a member now. She was happiest when in a garden wearing her leather gloves, a trowel in her hand and mulch up to her ankles. She prided herself on knowing the Latin names for plants and their families. She received the Garden Clubs of America Medal of Merit for her extraordinary service to that organization. She also was a board member of the Center for Plant Conservation in St. Louis. She is survived by her husband, children William Prescott Bush (Lindsay), of St. Louis, and Louisa B. McCall (Christian), of Greenwich, and five grandchildren: Katherine and Alexander Bush, and Henry, William, and Lucinda McCall. Services of thanksgiving will be held at Christ Memorial Chapel on Jupiter Island on November 27 and at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in St Louis on December 12. In lieu of flowers, the family would be grateful for memorial contributions to The St. Louis Art Museum, The Opera Theater of St. Louis, or The Missouri Botanical Garden.