Obituary - May Copley: May Thompson Bush was born on May 4, 1923, at her grandparents estate in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. She was the second of five children born to Marion Roberts and the Reverend Sargent Bush. Mays first home was in Princeton, New Jersey, while her father attended Princeton Theological seminary. From 1927-1931 she lived in Slatington, Pennsylvania, in the Presbyterian manse next to the church. In 1931 the family moved to Flemington, New Jersey, where, in the fall of 1932, Mays older sister, Lavinia Fenton Bush, died from pneumonia. May had difficulty learning to read so her parents sent her to a private tutor. When her tutor taught her by using the phonics method, May quickly learned to read and became a lifelong reader. Her younger sister, Katherine Lincoln Bush, also began learning to read using the phonics method with the tutor, and from then on, May and Katherine were in the same grade. In January of 1929, the Bush family, including Marion Roberts Bush, a five-month-old sister of Mays took a trip by ship to visit Mays aunt in Syria. Stops included the British Isles and most southern European countries except Germany. Rev. Bush would not step foot in Germany after having fought them in WWI. Several weeks were spent in Syria. Other countries toured were Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Libya, and Egypt. They stopped at Madeira, an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, and May had distinct memories of riding in a big cane sled down a cane-covered road. Apparently, this drew tourists as they slipped and slid on the cane throughout the drive. When juniors in high school, May and Katherine attended Moravian Seminary for Girls, a church boarding school in Bethlehem, PA. They both graduated from this seminary in 1941. In the fall of 1941, May went to the College of Wooster, a Presbyterian coed college in Wooster, Ohio. She and Katherine traveled by train with everything they needed in their individual trunks and one extra suitcase. When the war began on Dec. 7, 1941, things changed rapidly. Mays sophomore year in college was spent in Richmond, Virginia, at a branch of the College of William and Mary. She returned to Wooster for her junior and senior years and all credits from William and Mary transferred. May graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree and then went to Abbington Memorial Hospital in Abbington, PA, for an additional 15 months training to become a medical technologist. Her father had accepted a two-year position at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he worked with war veterans and their families in “Huskerville,” a part of Lincoln. As May had just graduated, she accompanied them to Lincoln and procured a medical technologist job in a doctors office. In Lincoln she met her future husband, Stanley Julian Copley, who was working on his Masters Degree at UN-L. They married on September 4, 1948, and in 1949, after Stanley finished his Masters Degree, they moved to Chicago, Illinois. Her husband taught high school world history, and their three daughters, Jane Dunham, Sarah Bush, and Julia Hammond were born. May was extremely busy with three girls in less than 3 ½ years. In 1954 the family moved to Franklin, NE, Stanleys hometown. They lived there five years. May raised Suffolk sheep for several years. In the fall of 1959, they moved to Hastings, NE, where Stanley taught world history in the senior high. May remained busy with the family and their activities. She was both a 4-H leader and a Brownie leader and was active at the First Presbyterian Church in Hastings. May helped her husband teach the college Sunday school class, became involved in a Presbyterian circle, and was once the mission chairman of the Association of Presbyterian Women. May knit family members countless beautiful sweaters, scarves, and mittens and crocheted bedspreads for her siblings. Additionally, she sewed much of the clothing she and her daughters wore. She had a large garden full of vegetables and beautiful flowers. When her oldest daughter Jane was a senior in high school, May returned to work in order to pay for her daughters college educations. She worked as a medical technologist for one year at Mary Lanning Hospital and then became the full-time medical librarian for the staff library at Hastings Regional Center for five more years. In June of 1973 May and Stanley returned to Franklin, NE where they raised Angus cattle. They built a new home five miles south of Franklin where they lived for 33 years. May said she was extremely happy here. She took painting classes, continued gardening and knitting, and joined an extension club. Her daughters and grandchildren were frequent visitors, for they all loved her dearly. In January of 2001, May had brain surgery on an aneurism. Her full recovery took many months but was nothing short of miraculous. In January of 2007, May and Stanley moved to College View Assisted Living in Hastings, NE. They stayed for three years but then moved to Good Samaritan Village in Hastings when Stanley needed more care. After Stanleys death on September 30, 2010, May continued living at Good Samaritan Village until August of 2013, when she moved to Bethany Home in Minden, NE. May died on Tuesday, June 17, 2014, at Bethany Home. She left three daughters to mourn her passing and celebrate her life: Jane Copley Holveck (Randy), Sarah Bush Copley Bartlett, and Julia Hammond Copley Thomsen (Ronald); eight grandchildren: Katherine Thomsen Pierson (Jay), Abby Thomsen, Anne Thomsen Lord (Errol), Christian Thomsen (Katie), Elizabeth Bartlett, Julia Bartlett, Robert Holveck (Elizabeth), and James Holveck (Laura); and six great-grandchildren: Theodore, Phoebe, Thomsen, Lavinia, Copley (Lee), and Hammond (Ned); and many nieces and nephews and one sister-in-law, Cynthia Bush, wife of Dr. Sargent Bush and one brother-in-law, Charles Susen, husband of Marion Bush Susen.. Memorials are suggested to the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. and the Franklin Public Library in Franklin, NE. Celebration of Life services will be on Saturday, June 21, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. at the Westminster United Presbyterian Church in Minden with Rev. Daniel Davis officiating. Graveside services will be at 10:00 a.m. at the Greenwood Cemetery in Franklin. Visitation will be at the Layton-Craig Funeral Home in Minden on Friday from 5 to 7 p.m.
Posted on: Fri, 20 Jun 2014 20:21:34 +0000
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