Harry and Wilma Bush

Harry was born December 31, 1925, in Cassville, Missouri to Harry Bush and Alta Mae Dilbeck. He grew up helping his mom and dad work on their farm. As a boy, he went to school in a small, one-room schoolhouse with a wood burning stove. He was a member of Future Farmers of America (FFA). However, he didn’t like farming, so he traded his FFA project, a sow and litter of piglets, for a basket of motorcycle parts. Piece by piece he put it back together and rode that 1928 Harley Davidson all over town. He played guard on his high school basketball team, and graduated from Cassville High School in 1943, during World War II.

After high school, he moved to Oakland, CA, and worked as a welder building Liberty Ships to send troops off to the war. When he turned 18, he enlisted in the Army Air Force and served in the 307 Bomb Group in the South Pacific. He served as tail gunner on a B-24 bomber and flew combat missions over the Philippines and China. After a harrowing experience over a volcano during a combat mission, Harry had a deeply personal conversion experience. In 1945, he found himself in Okinawa preparing for Operation Downfall, the Invasion of Japan which never occurred because the war ended.

Two months after returning home, Harry married Wilma Jean Truhitte who he proposed to before he shipped overseas. The couple moved to Kansas City, Kansas where he built their home on five acres. He bought a book titled “How to Build Your Dream Home” and followed the instructions carefully. Harry and Wilma lived in that house he built for over seventy years and raised their three kids. He worked at the Phillips Petroleum refinery in Kansas City for decades. At times, he took international assignments in places like India, England, Montana and Alaska supporting new pipeline and refinery projects.

He was an avid photographer, oil painter, and artist. He loved playing golf and practiced on a pristine putting green and driving range he built on his property. Harry and Wilma were deeply committed to their Christian faith and were active members of their church. He loved to watch deer, birds, squirrels, and any other wildlife that wandered through their property. If you ever met Harry, he would tell you some amazing stories, in meticulous detail, usually over and over! He was a man of principle, discipline and hard work. Fiercely self-reliant, he would fix virtually anything, rather than throw it away. He rarely asked for help, unless it was first offered. And if he accepted anything, he always offered to pay. He exercised thirty minutes every day until just days before he passed. He was a loving and devoted husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. Even late in life he would remember and ask by name about grandkids and great grandkids even those he never met or rarely saw.

Harry passed while sleeping comfortably, in bed at home. He is survived by his three children: Kanda Narciso, Tina Smetana and Steve Bush. He has seven grandchildren: Jeremiah Barber, Kristine Cole, Joshua Barber, Rem Elan Wulff, Amber Bush, Alexandra Carter, Max Bush. He has six great-grandchildren: Dean and Aleia Cole, Grace, Rhett and Gwyn Carter, and Jeremiah Barber Jr.

Wilma Jean (Truhitte) Bush, age 97, of Kansas City, Kansas passed away peacefully on December 31, 2022.

Wilma Jean was born November 12, 1925, in Cassville, Missouri to William Truhitte and Mary Ella Oakes. She grew up helping her mom and dad work on their farm. For many years, they didn’t have running water and she would carry water from the creek.

As a girl, she went to school in a small, one-room schoolhouse with a wood burning stove. During high school she played piano in church, and was a member of the school marching band. She graduated from Cassville High School in 1943, during World War II. She received a scholarship to attend Draughon Business College in Springfield, Missouri. After graduating the following year, she worked full-time as a clerk in the office of the Barry County AAA Committee for two years.

Wilma Jean knew Harry Bush since they were kids. They attended the same high school and became close. Before Harry left for the war, he proposed to her, and she said yes! When Harry mailed his parachute home, she cut it up, and sewed it into a beautiful dress. Wilma Jean and Harry were married June 9, 1946, just two months after he was discharged.

When she wasn’t working in her huge vegetable garden, she was planting flowers, canning, knitting, sewing, or quilting. She was an amazing cook and was constantly baking pies, which would almost instantly disappear. She led her church choir for decades, hosting elaborate musical plays and concerts. Above all, she was a passionate student of the Bible, and led the Women’s Bible Study at Open Door for over twenty-five years.

Some of her best-known phrases were; “I’ll swan!”, “Heavens to Betsy!” and “Mercy sakes alive!” She will be remembered as a strong, caring, warm woman who laughed easily, and was a mother to everyone who knew her. She is deeply loved and admired.

Wilma passed while sleeping comfortably, in bed at home, on New Year’s Eve morning. She is survived by her husband Harry Bush, and their three children: Kanda Narciso, Tina Smetana and Steve Bush. She has seven grandchildren: Jeremiah Barber, Kristine Cole, Joshua Barber, Amber Bush, Alexandra Carter, Max Bush and Rem Elan Cameron. She has four great-grandchildren: Dean and Aleia Cole, Grace and Rhett Carter, and a new great-grandson Barber expected this May 2023.

Funeral services for Wilma will be held Thursday, January 5, 2023 from 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM at Chapel Hill - Butler Funeral Home, 701 North 94th Street, Kansas City, KS 66112. A graveside will occur Thursday, January 5, 2023 from 12:30 PM to 1:00 PM at Leavenworth National Cemetery, 150 Muncie Road, Leavenworth, KS 66048. A visitation will occur Thursday, January 5, 2023 from 9:30 AM to 10:30 AM, 701 North 94th Street, Kansas City, KS 66112.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.chapelhill-butler.com for the Bush family.