Obituary of Betty Ruth Bushey

Betty Bushey (nee Randall) died at Nipissing Serenity Hospice over noon-hour on April 20^th, 2020 at the age of 82.

Betty is survived by Donald, her husband of 64 years and the love of her life.

She is pre-deceased by her parents, Jack & Inez Randall and by her brother, Kenneth. Surviving family are sisters Doris Knight of Sudbury and Judy Bailey of Edmonton; her children Randy (and Pat) Bushey of North Bay, Kim (and Peter) Wallace of Oakville, and Sherry (and Dale) Huber of Edmonton. Betty was blessed with 10 grandchildren; her 9^th great-grandchild is due in September. She will be dearly missed by all.

It is our firm belief that the Lord’s promise for Betty and all Christ-followers is “to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord” (2Corinthians 5:8).

Betty was born in Creighton Mine (outside of Sudbury) a second child, 8 years after her sister Doris Knight in the waning years of the Great Depression, August 26, 1937.

Mom struggled with health in her early years – encephalitis, having her life sustained in the providence of God by the recent miracle of the first modern antibiotic, penicillin – and diphtheria.

Mom met Dad after he had left Parry Sound in 1953 for the big city, Sudbury, there to be employed as a car-jockey in an automobile dealership, pick-up and delivery driver of dry cleaning, working underground in an Inco mine, and then as a city bus driver. It was during these Sudbury years – and due heavily to the quiet witness of Betty’s mother, our grandmother, Inez Randall – that Dad decided to become a Christ-follower.

Mom was in high-school and working part-time when they began to date.

In the category of unusual employment practices, Dad was actually driving the city bus when Ray Fox boarded to conduct an on-the-bus interview for future employment with Fox Cartage in the Trenton, Ontario office.

Mom and Dad were married in Sudbury in January 1956 and subsequently moved to Trenton to begin Dad’s almost 4-decade career with Fox Cartage-Tippet Richardson. Randy was born the next year.

Dad was transferred for a brief time to North Bay where Mom and Dad had an apartment on Judge Ave. Kim was born in 1959.

The family returned to Trenton and then bounced back to North Bay in 1961, living on Aubrey Street. Sherry came along in 1962. The family’s first owned home – constructed by Frank Dellandrea in 1962 – was on Pearce Street.

Our memory of Mom when we were kids was of community involvement: hospitality in our home, helping out as a parent at Vincent Massey School, and for decades within the community of Bethel Gospel Chapel in children’s and women’s ministry.

Mom loved her grandkids and great-grandkids often demonstrating her love for each by crocheting sweaters for the newborns.

Mom was a do-er and her love language was to perform acts of service. Mom was detail oriented, a word-game champion – particularly Boggle – and had a flare for home decor, crafts and cooking.

And Mom loved to travel internationally, prompted to explore the globe after Kim was an exchange student in South Africa for Grade 12 and Sherry’s decision to teach English in Osaka, Japan. Consequently, Mom and Dad travelled to Europe, Africa and Asia.

In the late 1970’s the “boat people” immigration movement landed the Mach family in North Bay and Mom and Dad helped lead a group of Bethel people in helping the family settle and thrive. The family subsequently moved to the GTA, but Mom and Dad have remained in contact to this day.

During our time at home particularly, Mom’s hospitality was evident: groups of teenagers, college and university students for holiday meals, visiting preachers and others. Our grandparents (the Randalls) regularly spent weekends in our home, and lived with us for a season.

Mom loved to be with her grandchildren and their kids – particularly at the cottage. There she often hosted board game competitions and tried to discourage Dad from demonstrating that one can still waterski and win push-up competitions in their 80s.

The family would like to thank the always-supportive Bethel Gospel Chapel faith-community, and the staff at Nipissing Hospice for their excellent and compassionate care.

If desired, donations to Bethel Gospel Chapel or Nipissing Serenity Hospice would be gratefully acknowledged as expressions of sympathy.

                                                                   Randy Bushey

                                                                   Kim Wallace

                                                                   Sherry Huber