RUTHIE BAYNARD F. RUSH
COLUMBIA - A celebration of life service for Ms. Ruth Baynard Fowles Rush will be held on Friday at 2 p.m. in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Columbia Ward, 4440 Ft. Jackson Blvd. The family will receive friends, family and visitors from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in the Relief Society Room at the church. Leevy's Funeral Home, Taylor Street Chapel, is assisting the family.
Ruth Baynard Fowles Rush (Ruthie), 48, beloved youngest child of Carol Knight Fowles and the late James Henry Fowles Jr., died peacefully on Dec. 25, 2018, after a long fight with metastatic breast cancer.
Born in Columbia on Oct. 25, 1970, Ruthie grew up barefoot, happy and free in an old rambling house on Senate Street in the University Hill neighborhood. She attended A.C. Moore, Hand, and Heathwood Hall, and went on to receive a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Georgetown University.
As described by close friend Suzan Knight, Ruthie was determined and courageous. She also possessed a kind heart, a gentle disposition and a delightfully quirky sense of humor. Above all else, she was a loving mother to her two sons, Joseph Whaley Rush (12) and Benjamin Spencer Rush (8). She was devoted to her family, her church and her friends. Her other loves were her many animals: her horse, Quittin' Time; her three cats, Finlay, Carmen and Marmalade; and her Boston terrier, Circe.
In addition to riding, she loved music and possessed a beautiful singing voice. As a child, Ruthie performed with the Columbia Lyric Opera and she continued with choral performance throughout her life. She was her most joyful with her boys, whether singing "We Are the Champions" loudly together in the car or playing in the sand and sun on Edisto Beach.
Ruthie had a passion for nursing, having worked at Byrnes Hospital and later at Palmetto Baptist Hospital. For the past 16 years, she worked for the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. Her unflinching commitment to ethical standards led to her career as a frontline investigator of complaints involving nursing homes. As a lover of history, Ruthie was an active and devoted member of the Daughters of the American Revolution for which she served as the senior president of the Jonathan Adams, C.A.R. (Children of the American Revolution). She was also a member of The Assembly.
She was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and the church and its members were a great help and comfort to her and her boys during her illness. The family would also like to thank the members of St. John's Episcopal Church, Congaree, for their many kindnesses. Ruthie's family is extremely grateful to everyone who helped during her illness, including her caregiver and angel, Carol Booker, and Fairfield Animal Hospital.
Ruthie is survived by: her two sons; her mother; her brother, James Henry Fowles III (Nora); her sister, Dorothy Fowles Kendall M.D. (Edward); her brother, Jenkins Knight Fowles (Jennifer); her aunts, Carol Berne Fowles and Blanche Mayes Knight; and her many cousins and their families, who all loved and supported her. She is also survived by the father of her children, John Spencer Rush, and his two sisters, Greta Rush Bishop (Mason) and Donna Rush Chumley (Greg) and their families. She was predeceased by: her father; her uncles, Furman Delano Knight, Richard Warren Knight and Burton Wellman Fowles; and by her aunt, Blanche Fowles Howard.
At Ruthie's request, her ashes will be dispersed in the ocean at her beloved Edisto Beach. Memorials may be made to the Edisto Island Open Land Trust, P.O. Box 1, Edisto Island, SC 29438, or the USC Educational Foundation for the benefit of the Carolina Lifesong Initiative (music education for children with disabilities), 813 Assembly St., Columbia, SC 29208. Also in memory of Ruthie, contributions to support her children's ongoing financial needs may be made to Greta Bishop, Designated Financial Representative, 5230 Lighthorne Road, Burke, VA 22015.