Obituary for Helen Rush
Fort Worth native Helen Cathey Rush Stinson passed away Thursday, October 10, 2019 in Heath, Texas at 91 years old.
The second of five children, Helen was born on July 7, 1928, to James M. and Myrtle Hall Cathey. Her dad worked for a local ice company, but in the 1940s the family left Fort Worth's east side to raise cattle and grow peanuts in Comanche County. It was there that a Baptist preacher wed the former Comanche High yearbook art editor to the Army Air Force veteran Orval Preston "Happy" Rush on February 5, 1948.
Happy nicknamed his sweetheart "Burger" because her mama taught her not to pick the most expensive menu item when he took her out. Following a stint of farming, the Happy/Burger combo set up housekeeping in Fort Worth, where Helen joined the post-war generation of women who combined full time careers with family life, not that the young wife shortchanged domestic duty for her day job at what became Sealy Corporation.
Her first child, Vickie, recalls sitting with her dad, Happy, legs folded on the couch, while Helen tore through the living room with a vacuum cleaner during the Thursday night cleaning whirlwind.
A quintessential Fort Worth woman of the times, Helen bought her face cream at Cox's Department Store on Lancaster Boulevard, hunted deer with Happy, flew to France on a jet, and drove her daughter Carol to rehearsals at Casa Manana and Texas Girls Choir in a maroon Chevy Super Sport after work.
Before retiring after more than 30 years at the mattress factory, Helen headed payroll and personnel at Sealy's Fort Worth plant.
After Happy's death in 1990, Helen moved to the Pecan Plantation community in Hood County, where she built a house near her brother's home and married Anderson Stinson.
Always active, Helen, who played basketball on roller skates as a youngster, took up golf as a retiree. She spent her last two years in the home of her daughter, Carole Rush under the loving care of Carole and her family friend Ladson Moore.
Helen is survived by her daughter, Carole Ann Rush; family friend who was like an adopted son, Ladson Moore of Heath; daughter, Vickie Austin and husband, John of Fort Worth; granddaughters, Hayley Austin and Lindsey Carpenter and husband, Rivelino; great-grandson, Dylan Carpenter; brother, Billy Cathey, Sr.; sister, Viola Kuhn; and numerous nieces and nephews.
The second of five children, Helen was born on July 7, 1928, to James M. and Myrtle Hall Cathey. Her dad worked for a local ice company, but in the 1940s the family left Fort Worth's east side to raise cattle and grow peanuts in Comanche County. It was there that a Baptist preacher wed the former Comanche High yearbook art editor to the Army Air Force veteran Orval Preston "Happy" Rush on February 5, 1948.
Happy nicknamed his sweetheart "Burger" because her mama taught her not to pick the most expensive menu item when he took her out. Following a stint of farming, the Happy/Burger combo set up housekeeping in Fort Worth, where Helen joined the post-war generation of women who combined full time careers with family life, not that the young wife shortchanged domestic duty for her day job at what became Sealy Corporation.
Her first child, Vickie, recalls sitting with her dad, Happy, legs folded on the couch, while Helen tore through the living room with a vacuum cleaner during the Thursday night cleaning whirlwind.
A quintessential Fort Worth woman of the times, Helen bought her face cream at Cox's Department Store on Lancaster Boulevard, hunted deer with Happy, flew to France on a jet, and drove her daughter Carol to rehearsals at Casa Manana and Texas Girls Choir in a maroon Chevy Super Sport after work.
Before retiring after more than 30 years at the mattress factory, Helen headed payroll and personnel at Sealy's Fort Worth plant.
After Happy's death in 1990, Helen moved to the Pecan Plantation community in Hood County, where she built a house near her brother's home and married Anderson Stinson.
Always active, Helen, who played basketball on roller skates as a youngster, took up golf as a retiree. She spent her last two years in the home of her daughter, Carole Rush under the loving care of Carole and her family friend Ladson Moore.
Helen is survived by her daughter, Carole Ann Rush; family friend who was like an adopted son, Ladson Moore of Heath; daughter, Vickie Austin and husband, John of Fort Worth; granddaughters, Hayley Austin and Lindsey Carpenter and husband, Rivelino; great-grandson, Dylan Carpenter; brother, Billy Cathey, Sr.; sister, Viola Kuhn; and numerous nieces and nephews.