Bernita Norma Rusk, 02 Mar 1917 - 01 Jan 2013

RUSK, SORENSEN, LARSEN, ORR, MINTLE, TYLER, WELLS, STEVENS, TARDY, NICHTERN, THIM

Posted By: Sandy Ficken (email)
Date: 1/10/2013 at 14:02:51

Funeral service for Bernita N. Rusk, 95, Peoria, Ariz., was held at 9 a.m. Monday, Jan. 7, at Sunland Memorial Park, Sun City, Ariz. She died Jan. 1, 2013, at Amethyst Gardens Retirement Community, Peoria.

Burial was in the National Memorial Cemetery, Phoenix.

Memorials may be made to the American Lutheran Church, 17220 N. Del Webb Blvd., Sun City, Ariz. 85373 or to the Highway Christian Hospice, 67 E. Weldon Ave., Ste. 317, Phoenix, Ariz. 85012.

Messages may be left at www.dignitymemorial.com/sunland-memorial-park-mortuary.

Bernita N. Rusk was born in rural Ruthven, the daughter of Knud and Thora [Larsen] Sorensen. She was baptized and attended Sunday school and church with her family at the South Walnut Lutheran Church, rural Graettinger. She earned her high school diploma as an adult and went on to take several college classes.

She married Bless [Roy] Rusk when he was in the Air Force in World War II. They were married 68 years, until his death at age 94 in 2011. They were members of the American Lutheran Church of Sun City, Ariz.

She was a homemaker for a number of years, raising their two children. Then she was co-owner and bookkeeper with her spouse in the family business of Rusk Drug and Jewelry, Algona, for 20-plus years, until their retirement to the Gulf Coast. While living in Ocean Springs, Miss., she was head of a campaign to eliminate litter and received an award from the mayor for her efforts.

At the age of 70, she became the literacy coordinator for the Jackson County Literacy Council in Vancleave, Miss., where she trained volunteers and matched them with adults who needed tutoring to learn to read and write.

She had been a Laubaugh volunteer tutor for 20 years through the Lutheran Church program. She was also active in the Ocean Springs Garden Club and Lutheran Church Women. The couple moved to an acreage in rural Vancleave, where they enjoyed gardening and were active in their church and community.

In 1994, they relocated to Conroy, to be closer to family. In 1996, they moved to Chanute, Kan., where they lived until 2007, when they moved to the Phoenix area.

Rusk is survived by one son, Gary Rusk, Surprise, Ariz.; one daughter, Cheryl Mintle Orr, Surprise; one sister, Arlene Tyler, Maxwell; three sisters-in-law, Elizabeth Wells, Seminole, Fla.; Rita Stevens, Baton Rouge, La., and Mary and Jack Tardy, Colorado Springs, Colo.; six grandchildren; five great-grandchildren and 40 nieces and nephews, their children and grandchildren.

In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her parents; two sisters, Florence Nichtern and Margaret Thim, and one brother, Harvey Sorensen.

The Williamsburg Journal Tribune, Iowa County Obituaries, 10 Jan 2013
[birth date, middle & maiden name from Palo Alto Biographies]
Janice Kay Edwards, 08 Apr 1939 - 03 Jan 2013