Mr. Howard Sumner Bush Sr.

HOWARD SUMNER BUSH, SR.

Howard Sumner Bush, Sr., age 91, Cleveland, Ohio resident, departed this life due to complications from colon cancer on Sunday evening, March 18, 2018 at the Heroes Harbor Hospice, Louis Stokes Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio.

Howard was born in Wellsville, Ohio to Charles Sumner Bush and Anna Frances Brown on August 22, 1926. He was the first of 9 children. With all his siblings being brought up in a Christian home, he accepted Jesus Christ at an early age and stood on that faith through both life’s trials and celebrations. The life that he created for his family had God at the center and the legacy of his faith has been transcends many generations.

On August 20, 1955, Howard married Hollie Mae Jones at Antioch Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio and remained happily married for fifty-two years. They had two children, Jocelyn Phillippa Taylor (deceased) and Howard Sumner Bush, Jr., and served as parents for Ernestine Hollie Evans.

Howard was preceded in death by his parents, wife Hollie Mae Bush, daughter Jocelyn Phillippa Taylor, and siblings Eileen Friend, Lila Hardin, and Lawrence Clint Bush, Sr.

Howard leaves to mourn, son Howard Sumner Bush, Jr. (Angie Bush), son-in-law Stanley Taylor, grandchildren Jordyn Bush, Taylor Bush, Isaac Bush, Logan Taylor, and Cameron Taylor, siblings Virginia Hall, Roxanna Woodley, Marilyn Banks, John Bush and Leslie Bush, raised as a daughter Ernestine Evans, Ernestine’s children Rodney Evans and Jeanine Evans-Turner, her grandchildren, De’Vonne Turner and Tyra Roberts, her great grandchildren Taj Christopher Bonaparte and Karson Brown.

Howard was born in Wellsville, Ohio during the Depression and was instilled with a sense of independence and resilience. At 18, he requested to work on the Pennsylvania Railroad during summer school vacations and was part of a special crew retracting railroad engines and rail cars. Howard graduated from high school in three years and went to serve in the Army as an engineer from 1945-1946 during WWII. He was shipped to Germany via France on a troop train. During peace time, Bush used his Class A pass to go sightseeing and explored the majority of Western Germany by car. When Howard returned home to the states, he enrolled and graduated from Ohio Valley Business College.

Howard’s career spans many decades, many jobs and many experiences.

His proud accomplishments included an opportunity after the Hough Riots, when the President of Cleveland Federal Savings and Loan asked him to work in the collections department to rescue 400 hundred loans made in the Hough area. He reduced the delinquent loans to two. As a Small Business Representative, Howard worked in the Department of Human Resources & Economic Development for the City of Cleveland. He was appointed County Grand Jury foreman by Federal Judge George W. White. He graduated from the Savings and Loan Institute while employed at Cleveland Federal

Savings and Loan and undertook County and State administration while at the City of Cleveland. Worked for Premier Auto Ware as a financial analyst. Among Howard’s entrepreneurial pursuits, he was awarded a contract to manage a license bureau for the State of Ohio and managed an Allstate agency.

Just as he worked in many capacities professionally, Howard was extremely handy as well. Spawning from his father’s skills as a professional electrician, he loved building homes, restoring cars, and helping his siblings with household repairs. He owned several two-family rental homes and refurbished them to provide decent housing in low-income areas. If it needed to be fixed, he would find a way to get it done.

At Wellsville Baptist Church, he followed in his father’s scouting leadership footsteps by attaining an Eagle Scout award, the highest merit in scouting. Howard served as the Scout Master for the Boy Scout troop at Antioch Baptist Church for many years. Due to Howard’s support and downright insistence, his son Howard S. Bush, Jr, earned the rank of Eagle Scout as well. When he was not out camping, he would take the family to country fairs and outings on Lake Erie in their motor boat. The highlight of the boating day would be docking at Captain Frank’s to get hotdogs and ice cream. On Sunday afternoons, if there was jazz in the park, he was there with snacks and a bottle of wine.

Among his proud moments, Howard was a member of the Karamu Quartet, sang in "Porgy& Bess" at the Cleveland Heights Theater, and served as an active member of the Cleveland Counsel on World Affairs. He joined Kappa Alpha Psi Incorporated Fraternity and sat on the board of Kappa Housing "Two" building near Shaker Square. To ensure there was a place where his friends and family could go and enjoy golf, fishing and picnicking, Howard was part of an investor group (including his good buddy Judge George White and brother-in-law William Hall) that bought a 9-hole, par 3 golf course in Lodi, Ohio.

He was very appreciative of his parents and their religious influence. They took him and his siblings to church. He taught the Junior High Sunday School class at Wellsville Baptist Church when he was young and sang in the youth choir. Howard met Hollie Mae at Antioch, married there, and raised their family in the Church. He enjoyed the Young Adult Fellowship group led by Sam McKinney. His record of service at Antioch was quite extensive. He taught Sunday School and later became Superintendent. He was chairman of the Trustee Board and served on the search committee that brought Rev. Marvin McMickle to Antioch. Howard believed in the importance of immersing one’s life in the tenets of the Bible, helping those in need, and being a person that makes one’s family proud. Through the trials of several recent illnesses, he remained close to God and continue to do God’s work. He knew his support system was at the Church, and found comfort in his assisted living home being across the street from Antioch.

God blessed Howard with tenacity, talents, and the ability to thrive where ever he was planted. His zest for living life to the fullest will be deeply missed.

Humbly submitted by the Family