William S Bush

William (Vasileios) S Bush (1929-2019)

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.

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" ([ttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oise 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).

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

Marriage, 1959

On 2 April, 1959, William Bush was married to Muriel Mary Sutcliffe (born 29 January, 1928, in London, England) 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 blessed Carmelite martyrs of Compiègne are recognised internationally.

Co-founding the Transfiguration Mission, 1977

For many years, William Bush participated in worship at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in London. 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 Dmitry 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 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

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.

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

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.

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. Father Panagiotis (Peter) had been one of William's students, and a parishioner of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in London.

After the funeral services, his body was interred at the Woodland Cemetery in London.

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.

• “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.

References

Regina Orthodox Press biography

Additional information :

“William Bush Collection of Bernanosiana and Literature of the French Catholic Revival”

Saint Seraphim's Church, Montgeron

Holy Transfiguration Antiochian Orthodox Church, London, Ontario

Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, London, Ontario

Orthodoxwiki article about the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America

Orthodoxwiki article about the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

Orthodoxwiki article about the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Toronto

Obituary of William Bush

Nécrologue obituary of William Bush

Findagrave reference to Woodland Cemetery

Gravestone

Findagrave reference for William S Bush

Wikipedia article about the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario

Findagrave reference for Sophie Zernov

Findagrave reference for Sophie Zernov