Judith "Judy" Ann Bush

She was born on April 18, 1943, in Clinton, Indiana. She was the daughter of Tony and Christine (Krapesh) Bogetto.

Judy graduated from Clinton High School and received bachelor’s, master’s, EdS. and PhD degrees from Indiana State University. She had a 46-year career in public education starting as a math teacher at Woodrow Wilson Junior High School in Terre Haute in 1965 and later becoming Dean of Girls. In 1973 daughter Christina came along and after a leave she went back as a teacher at Chauncy Rose Junior High School. She joined the staff at Terre Haute North Vigo High School in 1977 as a Dean of Students. From then until 1999 she was a Counselor, Head Counselor, Assistant Principal and Principal. Some might still remember her being back at work in the evening walking the seven-acre building with her faithful Aussie, Wolfie. In 1999 she accepted the position as Superintendent for the Attica Consolidated School Corporation in Attica, Indiana. She remained there until she retired in 2011. Being in Attica was one of the highlights of her career. She still considered so many as good friends. She was always supportive of students and teachers and saw the good in each person.

The same year she joined North, she and husband John bought 115 acres northeast of Terre Haute. Until the move to Attica in 1999, they enjoyed living in the beautiful valley with farm ground, hilly pastures, hay fields and woods filled with morel mushrooms in secret locations. Taking care of the cattle or cutting firewood was a great relief from the hectic pace at school. John knew Judy’s winter job was to walk back to the barn and feed the hay after changing into her farm clothes. It was also a great place to raise daughter Christina who belonged to 4-H for 10 years. Helping her with a difficult show steer sometimes would take the tenacity of a High School Principal. She also had a talent for calmly walking into a pen of calves to be sorted for loading out and getting them separated in contrast to John yelling and poking at them with a stick.

Judy joined the Attica-Williamsport Rotary Club in 2001 after giving a program for them as the new school Superintendent. She viewed Rotary as one of the most worthwhile organizations for doing good in the world. She served two terms as club President, District 6560 Assistant Governor and District Foundation Committee. She made many Rotary friends in central Indiana.

For Judy, retired was just a title to describe not having a job where you get paid. In the summer of 2011, she and John moved halfway between Bloomington and Bedford to the three-acre corner adjoining thirty acres where daughter, Christina, and Jon raised produce for the Farmers Market. John described it as the “middle of nowhere” adjoining Hoosier National Forest. He became the unpaid hired hand.

They transferred their membership from Attica First Lutheran to St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Bloomington. They visited the Bedford Rotary Club and then transferred membership from the Attica-Williamsport Rotary Club.

Judy volunteered for the church Finance Committee and the Worship Committee and had started a term on the church Council this year. She discovered the connection to Monroe County United Ministries (MCUM) and agreed to become a board member. She was involved in many of the fundraisers and other MCUM activities that helped so many in the community.

While in Attica, Judy volunteered to be a Council member for the Indiana-Kentucky Synod of the Lutheran Church (ELCA). She enjoyed being a member and making many friends from churches across Indiana and Kentucky. She was elected to be the Synod Secretary and was still serving in that role. She believed it was an important part of serving her church. She considered Bishop Bill Gafkjen and the I-K Synod staff in Indianapolis her dear friends. She looked forward to the Council meetings and the Synod Assemblies and was always in the process of finishing the minutes from the previous meeting. Part of the job was also attending the ELCA Churchwide Assembly held in different locations across the United States. The last she attended was in Milwaukee last year. She admired ELCA Bishop Elizabeth Eaton and her churchwide leadership.

In 2011, she almost immediately agreed to become the secretary for the Bedford Rotary Club which included providing a weekly article for the newspaper. Bedford Rotary had inbound and outbound Rotary Youth Exchange students every year going back to 1989. Judy volunteered to be a part of that program and enjoyed getting to know the students and families of students going to other countries for a year or inbound coming here for year to experience life in America. She made the yearly trip to Grand Rapids for the Youth Exchange gathering and accompanied students on trips as part of their experience. A fun one was going with District Youth Exchange Chair, Santhana Naidu, to Washington DC with students from several other countries. Rotary Youth Exchange is one of the most recognized programs of Rotary.

Bedford Rotary volunteered to help every fourth Saturday at The Teachers Warehouse in Bloomington. Of course, Judy became that regular volunteer. She was asked to join the board and became acquainted with many members from the three Rotary clubs in Bloomington.

Her previous association with many good Rotary friends in District 6560 and her years of volunteer leadership work in District 6580 culminated in Judy being chosen to become the District Governor for Rotary year 2017-18. She viewed this as a great honor and worked hard to do the best job for all the Rotary clubs in Southern Indiana. She worked with the District Governors (and many volunteer members) from northern Indiana (6540) and central Indiana (6560) to have an ALL Indiana Rotary conference in Indianapolis. The first all Indiana conference since 1938. Her efforts were interrupted by major surgery in November 2017 to remove a tumor. She recovered and enjoyed being a part of the conference in April 2018.

Judy and John attended the Toronto Rotary International Convention in June of 2018. The return of cancer was discovered a few weeks before and the trip was cut short so she could start chemo on her last day as District Governor. She never gave up and thought she could beat this dread disease just as she had prevailed so many times before with her life experiences.

Judy is survived by John, her husband of 56 years, and daughter Christina (Jeff Schultz).

A sister, Nancy Ewick and nieces and nephews, Jeff Bogetto (Stephanie), Paulette Bogetto, Daryl Ewick, Carla Mosley (Michael), and Tom Ewick (Selena).

Christina said John’s sisters also need mentioned as a fun part of Judy’s life the past few years. Many trips to Clinton were made to spend the day eating snacks at Judy Denham’s home while trying to beat John and his sister, Peggy Klyaic, partnered in a game of Hand and Foot. She was always planning the winning strategy and making sure all the rules were followed. They called her “Judy Bo” because after she and John were married the family had two Judy Bush’s. The name stuck all these years.

She was preceded in death by her parents and brother, Anton Bogetto Jr.

Judy always wanted a complete funeral service at the church with communion. That is not possible now with restrictions due to Covid-19. A celebration of her life will take place later.

Her ashes will be placed in the St Thomas Lutheran Church Columbarium.

Donations in her memory can be made to St. Thomas Lutheran Church, The Rotary Foundation, MCUM or The Teachers Warehouse.