Mary Gerner Rush of Hampton Bays died on July 10 at Southampton Hospital from complications related to interstitial lung disease. She was 62.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in 1970 from Molloy College, and a master’s degree in elementary education from Hofstra University in 1975, she taught in the Brentwood public school district.
A Sister of St. Dominic in Amityville from 1963 to 1971, she volunteered for Lighthouse for the Blind, the League of Women Voters, the Cancer Society, Birthright, East End Hospice, Dominican Sisters, Midnight Run, and Maureen’s Haven.
She was a member of the Town of Southampton Anti-Bias Task Force and an active parishioner at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Hampton Bays, where she had once taught Sunday School and was clerk of the vestry.
In 1998 she attended Suffolk County Community College for Paralegal Studies and in the summer of 1998 she attended the don Quijote Escuela in Salamanca, Spain and earned a certificate of proficiency in Spanish. She then began teaching for the Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) Migrant Education Outreach program and various adult English as a Second Language programs.
An accomplished quilter, she won awards for her many quilts, counted cross stitch, knitting and crochet work. She was a member of quilting groups such as the Eastern Long Island Quilters Guild and Pieceful Quilting.
According to the family, she loved and was loved and will be missed by many.
Predeceased by her husband, Edward T. Rush, she is survived a daughter, Elizabeth Rush; her mother, Mary E. Gerner; a brother, Paul; and two sisters, Susan and Christine.
The family received visitors on July 13 at R. J. O’Shea Funeral Home in Hampton Bays. A funeral was held on July 14 at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Hampton Bays.
In lieu of flowers, donations to Mary Rush’s Memorial Fund, c/o St. Mary’s Church, P.O. Box 782, Hampton Bays, NY 11946 would be appreciated by the family.
on Jul 23, 2008