After a brief illness, Harold Richard Rush, 90, passed away peacefully at Vetras Community Healthcare in Torrington on Friday, Oct. 30.
He was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Edith; sister, Ruth; two brothers, Ted and Robert; daughter, Ellen Marie Otero; and son, Tommy Carl Rush.
He is survived by his daughter, Mary (Pete) Martinez; son, Billy Lynn (Lorna) Rush; daughter, Eileen June (Roger) Stoneking; nine grandchildren; and numerous great-grandchildren and friends.
He was born in Maryville, Mo., to Cleo and Marie Rush on Saturday, Nov. 9, 1929. Richard grew up on a farm near Pickering, Mo., where he started school at Oxford Catholic school taught by nuns. Richard graduated in 1949. He then went to his uncle Austin’s in Torrington, where he met the love of his life, Edith Eileen Brown, and was married in 1950. They were married 67 years before Edith’s passing in 2017. Between 1950 and 1956, their family grew with the addition of five children. The family stayed in the More Springs area until 1958, when Richard’s, job with EJ Longyear, as a core driller, required extensive travel. The family moved their trailer house throughout the United States. Richard always took his family to sites and national parks throughout the states where they lived. Traveling was an education of its own, continually adapting to changing environments, schools, and people in new communities. Richard and his family returned to Wyoming in 1964, and made their permanent home in Guernsey.
Richard was a lover of life. He never knew a stranger, loved a good story or joke, always generous, extending a helping hand to anyone in need. He was a kind humanitarian, loved the earth and the crops it produced, and the animals it fed. Richard had a love of old tractors and often seen bailing hay on the side of Highway 26 for many years. He had a conservative nature of not wasting resources and using everything completely before buying something new. Richard was a big man in stature and presents and tenderhearted.
Celebration of life will be held at the Faith Fellowship at 600 West Chugwater St., Guernsey, on Friday, Nov. 6 at 10 a.m. Interment will be in Hartville Cemetery, near Hartville. Afterward, a dinner will be provided at Faith Fellowship in Guernsey.
Friends and family may call at the funeral home Thursday from 3 to 8 p.m.
The Gorman Funeral Home Platte Chapel of Wheatland is in charge of the arrangements. Please plant a memorial tree to honor Richard’s life well lived. We all know he is happy chopping wood in Heaven again.
Condolences can be left for the family at www.gormanfh.com
