Jean Bushey

Gladys Jean (Wagner) Bushey, the daughter of Wesley and Gladys (Salton) Wagner was born January 29,1937 in Spencer, Iowa. She passed away Sunday, April 20, 2025 at the home of her daughter in The Plains.  She received her early education in a one-room rural schoolhouse until the school was incorporated with the town school in Ruthven, Iowa. She graduated from Greenville-Rossie High School in Rossie, Iowa, in 1954. She attended one year of college at Iowa State Teachers College from 1954-55.     

Jean met her future husband, Boyd Bushey, in high school. They were married December 1, 1956.

In August of 1955 she started to work at Northwestern Bell Telephone Company in Spencer, Iowa. She worked for Northwestern Bell until divestiture of the AT&T Company in 1983.  At that time, she chose a job with AT&T and moved to Des Moines, Iowa. AT&T was reorganized in 1987, resulting in Jean and her family moving to Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1997, Jean and Boyd retired and moved to Gilbert, Arizona. Jean moved to The Plains, Ohio, in 2000 after Boyd’s death in 1999 to be near her daughter and family.

Jean was an avid sports fan. She played six-on-six basketball in high school. She also played the clarinet, guitar, and steel guitar, winning several competitions that saw her and her brother Fritz providing entertainment to ship passengers at Niagara Falls. She excelled in bowling, softball, and card and board games. She had a keen interest in winter activities such as snowmobiles and sledding. She closely followed Women’s basketball and sports, as well as NASCAR. Jean was a skilled seamstress, making clothing for her children and grandchildren. She also enjoyed making quilts and other skill-based needlework. She volunteered at the Red Cross in Athens, Ohio, and was a member of Athen’s Friends and Neighbors. 

Jean was preceded in death by her husband, Boyd, her parents Wesley and Gladys Wagner, her two brothers Frederick (Fritz) Wagner and William (Bill) Wagner and her sister-in-law, Alice (Pudlo) Wagner, and by her father- and mother-in-law Howard (Pete) Bushey and Viola Bushey. She is survived by her daughter, Becky Bushey-Miller, her son-in-law, Scott Miller, her granddaughters, Francesca, Sophie, and Zoe Miller of the Plains, Ohio, and her son, John Bushey, of Ashburn, Virginia, and by her sister-in-law, Mitzi (Anderson) Wagner of Spencer, Iowa.  

There will be a public graveside service held at Fanny Fern cemetery near Webb, Iowa on Monday, April 28, 2025 at 10:30 a.m.  A celebration of life will be held at a date and location yet to be determined.  

In lieu of flowers, consider making a memorial contribution in Jean’s name to American Red Cross Iowa Region (https://www.redcross.org/local/iowa.html) or OhioHealth HomeReach Hospice (https://www.ohiohealth.com/ohiohealth-foundation). 

Arrangements are by Jagers & Sons Funeral Home in Athens, Ohio and by Warner Funeral Home in Spencer and Everly, Iowa.