Obituary of Freda F. Bush

Freda Bush, long-time resident of Iowa City, died Friday, July 18, 2014, at Legacy Point Senior Living Community. Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m., Friday, July 25th at Lower Deer Creek Church near Kalona with burial prior to the service, at 9:30 a.m. at the Lower Deer Creek Cemetery. Those attending the graveside may gather at the church at 9:30 and we will then go as a group to the cemetery. Visitation will be Thursday from 4-6 p.m., at the Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service in Iowa City. Memorials in Freda's name can be made to the church, Hesston College in Hesston, KS or Iowa City Hospice. Freda Fern Bush was born March 20, 1919, in Kalona, Iowa;the daughter of Jacob and Lydia (Zimmerman) Brenneman. She graduated from Hesston High School in Hesston, Kansas in 1937. In 1955, she married Earl Bush. She worked at Swaner Farms Dairy and as a bookkeeper for Protein Blenders. She was also a bookkeeper at Lenoch & Cikek Ace Hardware for 46 years and was still helping with their payroll when she was 91 years old. She was fiercely independent, and had provided for herself most of her life, as well as being a caregiver for her husband and later her aging sister, Ola. For more than a quarter century, she volunteered at Mercy Hospital and had contributed 2,604 volunteer hours. She was often found pushing a cart of drinks and snacks and offering cheery words to patients and their families. Freda was confined to a wheel chair and lived the last three years at Legacy Point Senior Living in Iowa City where she enjoyed the food and thought the care was excellent. She enjoyed gardening, quilting, flowers, good food, a good laugh and visits from family and friends. Freda was the last born of her siblings, and the last to die – the last of her generation. She was preceded in death by her husband, three sisters, Orpha, Ola and Hilda; three brothers, Noah, Homer and Delmar; and two half-brothers, Lloyd and Ora. She is survived by numerous nieces and nephews and their families. She had a good life and she will be missed.