Award-winning TV and radio journalist David Rush died May 14, 2020 at his home in Naples, Fla. He was 89.
Born in Cordova, N.C., David was a longtime resident of Marco Island, Fla., having moved there from Rockville, Md. For years he and his wife, Betty, held dual state residencies before moving to Florida permanently in 1988.
He retired in 2003 as a financial adviser from the Marco Island office that bore his name, which was established in 1988. Prior to that, he was a TV-radio journalist for 32 years, the last 25 as a correspondent with NBC News. While his primary assignment was business and economics, he was a member of the White House Press Corps during the Johnson, Carter and Reagan administrations, chronicling the activities of the presidents. As such he traveled with chief executives to the 50 states, all U.S. territories and almost two dozen foreign countries. His greatest thrill, he said, were trips to China, to the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, home of Chinese emperors. He had dreamed about visiting that country as a youngster in grade school. He missed out on only one area that he, as a Christian, had one day hoped to visit: The Holy Land.
He regarded as his two most emotional assignments ’round-the-clock coverage of the House Judiciary Committee hearings that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974 and the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. He remembered sending his family home to North Carolina as a safety precaution during the latter.
David’s journalism career can be traced to his job as a radio announcer at age 16 in Rockingham, N.C., working weekends and summer at his hometown’s station. After military service and college, he worked at WDSC in Dillon, S.C. until 1957, when he began his years in television in Winston-Salem, N.C., at then WSJS (Channel 12). He anchored the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts and collaborated with producer Richard Barron in producing, writing, and narrating several documentaries.
His network break came when he was selected as the local TV anchorman on the NBC Program “Wide Wide World.” In 1960 David became a correspondent at WTOP Radio and TV, the Washington Post-owned stations in Washington, D.C., and would anchor the TV station’s evening newscasts. Later he joined WRC, the NBC affiliate in Washington, and advanced to network assignments. In 1968 he took a break from national news coverage to become public affairs director at WBTV in Charlotte, N.C., but in 1971 returned to network news in the nation’s capital, where he remained until his retirement as a journalist.
In his broadcast career, his reports, commentaries and documentaries won 36 awards, including a prestigious DuPont Peabody Award for the NBC documentary “Second Sunday” about the Vietnam War and a local Emmy Award for “Washington’s Outstanding News Presentation” while at WTOP-TV.
One honor he accepted with amusement: the American Chiropractic Association’s first-place award for a series he did for the White House Physical Fitness program. At the time, he said, he was vastly overweight and grossly out of shape.
David also won first place in a Robert F. Kennedy Foundation competition for a documentary about the homeless. The same documentary garnered first place from the National Press Club of Washington and a National Headliner Award, given by the Atlantic City New Jersey Press Club.
In 1986 David was one of two broadcast correspondents among nine journalists awarded fellowships by the International Press Institute to study trade and commerce in Japan.
David was a lifelong member of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) and was president of its Washington, D.C. chapter for three terms. He also was a member of AFTRA’s national board and a member of the Washington, D.C. Labor Council.
He wore a military uniform overseas in time of war, serving with distinction in Korea as a communications specialist in the U.S. Air Force with a top-secret clearance. He was decorated several times. Among his medals were the Korean Campaign Medal with two bronze stars, the United Nations Medal for Freedom and the Syngman Rhee Citation, awarded by the South Korean president to troops engaged against the North Korean and Chinese armies.
David was an ordained Deacon in the Presbyterian Church in Winston Salem, N.C., and later reconfirmed by St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Rockville, Md.
He was a longtime member of Marco Island’s Thursday Rotary Club and a Paul Harris Fellow. David was also a member of Marco Island’s two Charter Review Committees and an outspoken member of the community. He was a member of the NRA and the Allegheny Rifle Association of Sparta, N.C.
In 1951 he married his high school sweetheart, Betty, and they had three children.
Years after retirement he and Betty purchased a chalet in Roaring Gap, N.C., near the Blue Ridge Parkway, and spent their summers there. While their primary residence until 2018 was on Marco Island, they loved the peace, tranquility and coolness of the weather in the North Carolina mountains. David often told friends he was “doubly blessed to live in two paradises” before going to the final Paradise.
In addition to his wife, David is survived by his elder son, David Rush Jr. (Jill), daughter Vicky Harris (Dean), daughter-in-law Cindy Rush; two brothers, Steve and Jerry (Linda); five grandchildren, one great-granddaughter, three step-grandchildren and four step-great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his son Eddie, grandson Kirk, a sister, two brothers and his parents.
There will be a Celebration of Life on Marco Island at a later date, when circumstances allow large groups to gather. Hodges-Josberger Funeral Home is handling arrangements.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Gary Sinise Foundation, www.garysinisefoundation.org
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