Services for Fern Bruner Bush will be 11:00 AM Friday, January 11, 2013 at Corinth Missionary Baptist Church im Timpson TX. Interment will follow at Corinth Cemetery. Under the direction of Kilpatrick Funeral Home in Ruston. Fern Bruner Bush died at age 98, in Ruston, Louisiana, on January 8, 2013 Born in Smith County Texas, on February 26, 1914, she was the daughter of Elzy Bruner and Myrtle Hollis Bruner, the fourth of seven children. Her three brothers and three sisters have all predeceased her. Growing up in Mineola, Texas, in a large family with numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins nearby, she developed a love of family, family gatherings, and an interest in people. Her marriage to Haley Bush, who she called “Bush,” brought her into another large and extended East Texas family that she enjoyed throughout her life. They built a home in Mineola, and their three children, two daughters and a son, were born there. When her husband's job transfers required moving, first to Longview, Texas, and then to Shreveport, Louisiana, she welcomed the moves, and settled into a life focused on home and family, church, and friends. She liked to cook, and her peach cobblers, in particular, were generally acknowledged to be “the best ever.” Shortly before his retirement, her husband became ill and she became a widow at age 52, just one month before the birth of her first grandchild. With the encouragement of friends, she worked as a sales person in locally-owned shops, first in women's clothing and then jewelry. She often filled spare time with projects that ranged from refinishing furniture to quilting and other needlework. But one of her greatest pleasures was rocking her grandchildren and great grandchildren when they were babies, and she took advantage of many opportunities to do that. Eventually, she moved to Van, Texas, to be near her sisters, and later as her health declined, to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and then to Ruston, Louisiana, where she had the help of her daughters and son. In spite of her memory loss and declining health, she kept some of her quick wit and sense of humor. At a celebration of her 98th birthday, for example, when a daughter asked if she knew how old she was, she said, “No' When asked if she would like to be told, she said, “Yes, Very quietly!” She is survived by three children, five granddaughters, and twelve great-grandchildren: Beverly Bush Patterson and her husband Dan, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and their daughters, Heather Boggs of Cary, North Carolina; Holly O'Neill and her husband Sean of Boca Raton, Florida; Stacie Dietsch and her husband Peter of Midland, TX and Shelley Hinkle and her husband John of Chapel Hill, North Carolina; her son Jere Bruner Bush of Gun Barrel City, Texas; and her daughter Suzanne Bush Rainer and her husband Joe, of Ruston, Louisiana, and their daughter Haley Holder and her husband Dominik of Gloster, Louisiana. great- grandchildren: Alissa and Abby Boggs; Emily an James O'Neill; Stephen, Timothy, Lydia, and Titus Dietsch; Maxwell, Oliver, and Evelyn Hinkle; and E. J. Holder, and numerous nieces and nephews. Online codolences may be sent to the family at www.kilpatrickfuneralhomes.com