Boschong Subscribers, We are so sad to report the passing last Monday, 7 February 2011, of Betty M. (Caulkins) Bushong, the wife of one of our favorite cousins, Lowell "Bud" Bushong. Russell and I have known them a very long time. Betty was a very caring person, almost like a second mother to me, and has been a great moral support, particularly after the passing of my husband Russell in 2008 and that time after. She and Bud were always hilarious together, keeping us laughing along the way and she was very much interested in the Bushong family history, sending me articles clipped from Ohio newspapers and putting me in touch with various other Bushong descendants living in her area. Bud is a descendant of Benjamin Harrison Bushong and Catharine Hisey from Shenandoah County, Virginia. There are a lot of photos in the Ancestors album that were sent to me by Bud, Betty and daughter Sandy. The first time Russell and I met Bud and Betty, they lived in Sebring, Florida where they were in a retirement community. They were the first Bushongs outside of Russell's immediate family that we had ever met and I believe it was vice versa for them. We would drive down to Sebring many times during the years and visit and have lunch as a group with not only Bud and Betty but also Burnis and Thelma Bushong who lived in Avon Park. The six of us loved to get together and we had a really great time trying out various restaurants in the area between Sebring and Avon Park, talking about the Bushong family and all the various stories that go along with that. We would all have a great time then and at the Bushong Reunions too. Health issues had kept all of them from coming to the last few reunions and Bud and Betty had left Florida to return to Bryan, Ohio to be closer to their daughter Sandy after the health issues had cropped up. I still stop in once in a while to visit with Burnis and Thelma on my way down to Miami or talk to them on the telephone. I can still hear Betty saying "Oh?" in her funny little way when we would tell her something of interest. She will be greatly missed but we know she is with our heavenly Father. Bud's health is not very good as he is battling cancer and Betty's passing is a real blow to him. He is at home but with 24 hour care. My love goes out to each one of the family. I am going to create a new photo album for personal photos that Russell and I had taken through the years as we visited with various Bushongs and also some that have been sent to us by them. What's missing in the obit below is the fact that when they were able, they attended the Brethren Church. ----------------------------------- The Bryan Times Bryan, Ohio 8 February 2011 Betty M. Bushong (1920 — 2011) Betty M. Bushong, 91, of Bryan and formerly of Pioneer, died Monday, Feb. 7, 2011, at Community Hospitals and Wellness Centers-Bryan. Born Sept. 13, 1920, in Millcreek Township, to Nellie G. (Orewiler) and Thomas H. Caulkins, she married Lowell R. “Bud” Bushong, on Sept. 23, 1939, at Paris, Ky., and he survives. A 1938 graduate of West Unity High School, she was a homemaker and had been co-owner and operator of Bud’s Supermarket in Pioneer for 21 years, retiring in 1973. Surviving, in addition to her husband, are children, Mrs. James (Sandra) Rupp of Pioneer, Mrs. William (Sharon) Burrows of Port Huron, Mich. and Bill (Joyce) Bushong of Calhoun, Ga.; seven grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; two step grandchildren; and a brother, Richard Caulkins of Bryan. Visitation will be held Wednesday from 1 p.m. until the time of service, 2 p.m., in the Thompson Funeral Home, Pioneer, with Nelson Rupp to officiate. Interment will be at Floral Grove Cemetery, Pioneer. Memorials may be made to the Bryan Senior Center. ------------------------- Submitted by Gloria Bushong