Obituary of Francis Joseph Bush

Francis J. (Joe) Bush died peacefully in Brewer on July 3, 2024 after a brief illness. Born in Winchendon, Massachusetts on November 28, 1927, he was the son of Francis J. Bush and Emily (Henry) Bush.

He graduated from Tabor Academy in Marion, Massachusetts, where he developed his love of sailing, and from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy (1953) where he learned his lifelong profession. He served in the Army of Occupation in Japan at the end of WWII and in the medical corps as a pharmacy technician at Valley Forge Army Hospital in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania during the Korean War.

            After the war, he was a pharmacist at the Dover Clinic in Boston before moving to Brewer to work at Ohmart and Hinkley Pharmacy and later settle in Dexter where he raised a family and managed Dexter Pharmacy. In Brewer he met his wife, the former Elizabeth “Bettie” Crawford. Together in 1966 they bought Dexter Pharmacy and ran it until it was sold in 1977.

            A man of service and honor, he was a twenty-five-year member of the Dexter Fire Department as well as a member of the Dexter Jaycees and the Dexter Club. He also served on the Plummer Memorial Hospital Board of Governors and the Silver Lake Housing Development. He was Town Moderator until Dexter adopted council government.

            In his later life, he and his wife moved to Tenants Harbor, and he was a pharmacist with Laverdiere’s Super Drug Stores in Rockland. He retired in 1991 and continued part time with Laverdiere’s and Rite-Aid until 2009.

            Above all, he was a loyal friend, devoted husband and loving father—empathetic, witty, thoughtful, kind and a gentleman to the end. Referencing his favorite poet, Robert Frost, he encouraged his children to “take the road less travelled.” Thank you Dad, as “that has made all the difference.” We will carry your love and care always in our hearts.

            He leaves his much beloved wife Bettie of 69 years; his son Francis J. and wife Sandra; his daughter Anne Marie; his son, John D.; and his grandson John Crawford Bush.

There will be no services. Gifts in his memory may be made to the Dexter Fire Department.