William S Bush

William (Vasileios) S Bush (1929-2019)

and

M Mary Bush (born Sutclilffe) (1928-2021)

Early life of William S Bush

In 1929, William Shirley Bush was born in Plant City, Florida, USA. He was the son of William Shirley Bush and Vera (born Crews) Bush. (He would be frequently referred to by his nickname “Bill.”)

William’s earliest personal loves were music, his Christian faith, and flowers. As a child, he aspired to be a florist.

His flare for music led him to serve, during his adolescence, as an organist in several Plant City churches.

Higher education

After having completed his primary and secondary education in Plant City, William then studied music and languages at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida.

After he completed his undergraduate studies, he spent a year doing missionary work in Haiti, and then he taught at a mission school in South Dakota.

Entering the Anglican (Episcopal) communion

William had been raised as a Southern Baptist, but he embraced Anglo-Catholicism at age 20, in 1949.

In 1953, William earned an M.A. from the University of South Dakota, where he discovered that he loved French literature, and this shaped his subsequent academic career.

In 1954, he was awarded a Fulbright scholarship. Therefore, he was able to pursue studies towards a Ph.D. in Paris, France at the Sorbonne.

While working on his doctorate, he served as the choir director and organist at the Saint George Anglican Church in Paris, where he met Mary Sutcliffe. The story of their meeting – the start of a love that spanned more than 60 years – was one that he often told.

Finding the Orthodox Christian Church, 1955

In 1955, an unforeseen encounter with a holy Russian woman in Paris, France, revealed to him that the Orthodox Christian Faith might be embraced by those who were not born Orthodox. This person was Sophie Michaïlovna Zernova (sister of Nicholas Zernov). Thereafter, throughout his life, he would frequently refer to her.

After this decisive encounter, there followed 3 years of residence in Paris (1956-1959), during which he wrote his thesis at the Sorbonne University. This time in Paris allowed him to steep himself in the Orthodoxy of the sizeable Russian colony there.

Sophie Zernov was responsible for the purchase in the 1950s of the “Moulin de Senlis” (Oise) at Montgeron. She had converted the former mill into an orphanage for children of Russian immigrants. The site also has historical relationships during the 11th century with Princess Anne of Kiev, wife of King Henry I.

Out of obedience, however, William did not seek admission into the Church before a 10-year wait expired in 1967 when, at age 38, he was received into the Greek Orthodox Church. At that time, he received the name Vasileios (for Saint Basil the Great).

It was while he was in Paris, France, that he met his future wife.

In 1958, after having defended his thesis, William Bush was given the Ph.D. degree.

Early life of M Mary Bush (born Sutcliffe)

In 1928, Muriel Mary Sutcliffe (usually known as Mary) was born in London, England, the daughter of Vernon George Sutcliffe and Muriel Edith Gross. Her childhood was one of joy, and pleasant memories, which included visits to relatives in Ireland.

Mary attended the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, where she studied French under Georges Poulet (an eminent French literary critic of the time). She earned an MA in French language and literature, along with a glowing recommendation from Poulet that launched her teaching career. (She also played on the university’s lacrosse team, of which she served as captain.)

After her graduation, Mary Sutcliffe taught at the Godolphin and Latymer School at Hammersmith, West London, England, and then at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, France.

It was there that she met William (Bill), who became her dear husband for the next 60 years.

Marriage, 1959

On 2 April, 1959, William Bush was married to Muriel Mary Sutcliffe in Saint Mary’s Church, Harmondsworth, England.

In due time, they received from the Lord 4 children : Anastasia, Jamie, John, and Andrew.

Teaching career, 1959

In 1959, William Bush began his academic career with 7 years of teaching at Duke University at Durham, North Carolina, USA.

Then, in 1966, he moved with his family to Canada. They settled in London, Ontario, where he had been named Professor of French in the University of Western Ontario.

An animated lecturer and devoted mentor, he is vividly remembered by many former students. He was a distinguished scholar and a prolific writer. His authoritative volumes in French and English, both on the French Roman Catholic writer, Georges Bernanos (1888-1948), and on the 16 Holy Carmelite martyrs of Compiègne are recognised internationally.

Meanwhile, after a 10-year hiatus devoted to raising their 4 children, Mary Bush resumed her career by teaching at Brescia College then at King’s College of the University of Western Ontario. There, she was beloved by students and colleagues alike.

Further, Mary delighted in the fun of family life and its rituals, which she organised, including festive meals, trips to England and France, summer vacations on a Manitoulin Island farm.

Co-founding the Transfiguration Mission, 1977

For many years, William Bush participated in worship at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in London, Ontario. His Orthodox Christian Faith was the centre of his spiritual life.

Then, in 1977, William Bush became a co-founder of the English-language Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Parish (Antiochian) in London, Ontario, where he served as a chanter for many decades thereafter. The other co-founder of the parish was Professor Dimitry Pospielovsky, a professor at the same University of Western Ontario. For many years, William organised the music for the services, as he and Dmitry led the parish in its establishment, formation and development.

This community had its beginning from an Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF) group that met at the university. The impetus towards establishing a mission was the need that the participants felt to be able to worship in the English language. The earliest places of worship were improvised and challenging, including the use of an office space in an office building. However, the weekly experience of setting up and disassembling the “chapel” helped to bind the community together.

Eventually, the congregation settled in a low-ceilinged, former Kingdom Hall. Although the building met the need for a stable place of worship, its structure effectively deadened all sound, which made both singing and preaching difficult. Regardless, the community continued to develop steadily. In due course, the Priest Martin Meitz came to serve the parish, and he began to nurture the parish. This he continued for several decades, and the eventual result was both growth of the community itself, and the ability in 2011 to purchase and transform a church-building which was already more than a century old. William subsequently contributed greatly to the adornment of this new Temple with Orthodox iconography.

A great moment of William's life was the sanctification in 2011 of this Temple on Horton Street, to which he remained deeply devoted (even when failing health prevented him from attending services).

Holy Transfiguration Temple, 2011

Holy Transfiguration Temple interior with the iconostas

Retirement, post-retirement activity

After his retirement from active teaching, William Bush was given the title “Professor Emeritus” in the University of Western Ontario.

Also after his retirement, Professor William S Bush donated more than 700 volumes to the Kings Library at the University of Western Ontario.

Then he published several books, about the French Revolution and about Orthodox Christian theology, which have a devoted international following.

Dr. W S Bush

William’s sweet nature touched everyone who knew him. He delighted in music, art, literature, history, travel with his wife, gardening, laughter, and good food. He was a man of great vitality whose life – pursued whole-heartedly, with diverse achievements, and abundant family affection and fun – saw a full bloom.

Mary Bush enjoyed her post-retirement travels with her husband, which she arranged capably.

All the while, Mary was a devoted parishioner at the Church of the Holy Transfiguration in London, where she had many friends.

William and Mary Bush

Repose, 2019

On 24 March, 2019, William Vasileios S Bush fell asleep in the Lord at the age of 90 in Victoria Hospital in London, Ontario.

On 29 March, 2019, at 8:30 p.m., a Trisagion service was offered at the Millard George Funeral Home, along with a time of visitation.

On 30 March, 2019, at 10:00 a.m., the Service for the Burial of a Lay-person was offered at Holy Transfiguration Antiochian Orthodox Church, 465, Horton Street East, London. The service was led by the Priest Martin Meitz, and the homily was delivered by the Protopresbyter Panagiotis Avgeropoulos, rector of the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation in Toronto. In his youth, Father Panagiotis (Peter) had been one of William’s students, and a parishioner of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in London.

After the conclusion of the funeral obsequies, the body of Professor William S Bush was interred at the Woodland Cemetery in London.

Repose, 2021

On Saturday, 25 December, 2021, M Mary Bush reposed in Christ in London, Ontario.

On Thursday, 30 December, 2021, a grave-side funeral service was offered at the Woodland Cemetery in London. The reason for this minimal observance was the Covid-19 Pandemic which limited any gathering at that time.

After the conclusion of the service, the body of Muriel Mary Bush was interred beside that of her husband in the Woodland Cemetery.

Grave-marker

Reflections

Clearly evident are the academic credentials, gifts and abilities of Professor William Bush.

Clearly evident also is his compassionately paternal disposition which were the support of his family, the support of his students, and the support of the parish which he helped to found.

Writings

• ‘Bernanos – One Hundred Years Later’ in “The Chesterton Review”, vol. 15/16, issue 4/1 (1989/1990), pp. 455-464.

• “Collection of Bernanosiana and Literature of the French Catholic Revival”

• “The Heart of Orthodox Mystery” (Salisbury, MA : Regina Orthodox Press, 2003). ISBN 10 : 192865312X ; ISBN 13 : 978-1928653127

• “The Mystery of the Church” (Salisbury, MA : Regina Orthodox Press, 2002). ISBN 10 : 0964914174 ; ISBN 13 : 978-0964914179.

• “To Quell the Terror : the Mystery of the Vocation of the Sixteen Carmelites of Compiegne Guillotined July 17, 1794” (Washington, DC : ICS Publications, 1999). ISBN 10 : 0935216677 ; ISBN 13 : 0935216677.