Margaret Taylor Bush

Margaret Taylor Bush, 96, of Bradenton, Florida, passed away after a brief illness. Margaret Bush was born in Wauchula, Florida, and grew up in Bradenton, Florida, where she graduated from Manatee High School in 1940. After high school, she married Sgt. James “Jimmy” Ritcherson and was stationed with him in Albany, Georgia. They had one daughter. She was widowed at the end of World War II, and married Charles “Chuck” Arnold, Jr. They moved to Texas and Georgia, before settling in Jackson, Mississippi. After he passed, she moved her family to Bradenton, Florida, where she worked as a medical secretary to Dr. Joe Ganey. In Bradenton, she was an active member of Christ Episcopal Church. She served as president of St. Anne’s Guild and on the staff of the church Budget Box. She married Rev. Fred J. Bush, from the Diocese of Mississippi. Together, they alternated their time between his home in Jackson, Mississippi and hers in Bradenton. She is preceded in death by her parents, Oliver Franklin Taylor and Ruth Wallace Taylor, husbands Jimmy, Chuck, and Fred, two granddaughters, and a step great-grandson. Margaret Bush is survived by her five children: Jeanne “Cookie” (Taylor) Pickard, St. Petersburg, Florida and Kingsport, Tennessee; Charles Arnold, St. Petersburg, Florida; William “Bill” (Peggy) Arnold, Chicago, Illinois and St. Croix, Virgin Islands; Margaret “Peggy” (Tom) Caldwell, Panama City, Florida; Ellen Sessions, Bradenton, Florida; and stepson Robert Bush, Cary, North Carolina. She also leaves behind five grandchildren, three step-grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, and a step great-grandchild. The service is scheduled at Christ Episcopal Church, 4030 Manatee Ave W, Bradenton, January 26th, starting at 11:00 AM, followed by a reception in the church Parrish Hall. Afterwards, family and friends will inter Margaret at Manasota Memorial Park next to her first husband and her parents.