George Bush

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- George E. Bush Sr., 95, died Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau.

He was born June 5, 1919, in rural Perry County to the late Harry and Gladys McCord Bush. He attended Moranville rural county grade school and graduated from Perryville High School in 1937. Mr. Bush went to Southeast Missouri University where he earned a teaching degree graduating in 1941. He then attended the U.S. Coast Guard Officers Candidate School at the Coast Guard Academy in Groton, Connecticut, where he was commissioned as a lieutenant junior grade.

Lt. Bush was assigned to the ships that landed infantry on beaches and participated in the invasions at North Africa, Sicily and Salerno in Italy, and finally the D-Day Invasion at Normandy. He received his honorable discharge June 26, 1946.

He was united in marriage to Helen I. Baylard on Oct. 17, 1945, in St. Louis. Mrs. Bush preceded him in death. Mr. Bush returned to Perryville, where he was a State Farm Insurance agent for 43 years, retiring in 1984.

Mr. Bush was a member of the Perryville Lions Club and the Moonier-Reddick Post of the American Legion for 61 years. He was also a member of the Holy Name Society and St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church. Mr. Bush enjoyed deer and quail hunting, water skiing and fishing. He was also an aviation buff and enjoyed many memorable trips flying with Woody Wilson to the Gulf Coast.

He is survived by his sons, George Bush Jr. and his wife Dalila of Atlanta and Robert Bush of Perryville; and his granddaughter, Helen R. Bridier and husband Lt. David Bridier of Waynesville, Missouri.

Visitation will be from 5 to 9 p.m. Sunday at Miller Family Funeral Home in Perryville. An American Legion service will be at 6:30 p.m., followed by parish prayers with the Knights of Columbus at 7 p.m.

Visitation will continue from 6:30 to 9:50 a.m. Monday, with the rosary recited at 9 a.m., at the funeral home.

Funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Perryville, with the Rev. Milton Ryan officiating. Burial will be in Mount Hope Cemetery, with graveside services courtesy of the American Legion Post 133 and the Delta Team.

The family requests that memorials be directed to the American Cancer Society.