Marsha Jane Bush

Marsha Jane Bush 

8/25/1938 to 11/3/2024 

“Baby girl Arnold” was born and raised in Chicago, adopted by Veda and David Carle with her older sister Paula. A talented student, especially at writing, she attended Albion College where she met Richard “Dick” Carpenter. They were married in 1959 and moved to Cleveland while Dick was a graduate student at Case Western University. They had three children in quick succession: Kathy Carpenter Adams, Lynn Carpenter Hardman, and David Carpenter and moved to Yellow Springs in 1964 where Dick taught Chemistry at Antioch College. They divorced in 1968, all remaining in the village for most of the children’s schooling. It was during her early years in Yellow Springs that the only parents she knew, David and Veda Carle, died within months of each other, and Marsha was surprised to discover her adoption papers while attending to their final aƯairs. Marsha searched, located, and reconnected with her birth mother, Dorothy (nee Vorhees) Johnson. She learned that her birth father, Edward Arnold, LCDR (USN) had died on active duty while test flying a helicopter aboard NAS Patuxent River, MD. Dorothy was barrel racing horses when she later met Adolf Johnson, a cowboy and bull wrangler, at the Calgary Rodeo. They married, settled on a dairy farm in northwestern Minnesota, and subsequently had five children: Bob, Esther, Mary, Barbara, and Teresa (Terri.) The Johnson family readily and lovingly received Marsha, her children, and later, her grandchildren. Reconnecting with one’s birth parents does not always go well, but in Marsha’s case, it was a blessing to her and her family. She met her second husband Robert “Bob” Silverman, a math professor at Wright State University (WSU) and they had a son together, Mikhael “Mike” Aaron Silverman in 1971. Marsha completed a B.S. in Psychology in 1972 and M.S. in Counseling in 1974 at WSU during their union. Their composite family of seven children included three children from Bob’s first marriage: Beth, Anne, and Daniel Silverman, along with Marsha’s three children, and their son together. They divorced in 1976, and shared custody of Mikhael for the remainder of his childhood. Marsha married Peter Bush in 1979 and for much of their over 30 years of marriage, she was content and proud of her work as a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor helping families. Her social work career began with practicums at WSU, the Inter-Faith Council in Xenia, Children’s Mental Health in Fairborn, some clinical and private practice counseling, and she retired after a long stint of counseling at the Adriel School in West Liberty. She and Peter traveled together, notably to Oaxaca, MX, Hawaii, the Caribbean, and many camping trips to Michigan. Marsha also traveled solo, twice on a bike tour of Nova Scotia, and, at age 70 to Ireland, the land of her favorite poets and muses. Marsha and Peter divorced in 2012. She moved frequently thereafter, finally settling back in Yellow Springs at Friend’s Care Center where she received excellent and compassionate care, for which she and her entire family are grateful. Before her final year at Friends Care Center, Marsha lived nearly a decade in southern California near her son, Mikhael, his loving and gracious wife, Stephanie, and their three sons. Together they enjoyed attending lots of the boys’ baseball games, church services, and many social events and meals together. While there, Marsha became a member of the Bouquet Canyon Church, was baptized, and found much solace in her faith. Singing with Threshold Choir also provided peace and comfort in her later years. The last songs she heard (played bedside for her by daughter Kathy) were “Sending You Light” and “My Grateful Heart.” Marsha enjoyed photography, swimming, reading, biking, and, most of all, writing - a craft she continuously honed throughout her life. She was an active member of several poetry and writing groups, attended Antioch Writers’ Workshop and Vermont’s Studio Center, won many writing contests and awards, self-published “Earth OƯerings,” a collection of her poems and photos in 2011, “Bone Deep Bonds,” a crime novel in 2022, and “The Art of Dying,” a poem in the latest YS Senior Center magazine, “Ripples.” Marsha finished the last chapter of her long and storied life in 2023 at Friends Care Center. She passed peacefully with Kathy and Dale Adams at her bedside along with sympathy and excellent comfort care from nurses at Soin Hospital. Marsha is survived by her adopted sister Paula (Carle) Pestana and her children, Pamela, Christopher, and Joseph Pestana - who were kind, generous and selflessly helped Marsha in her senior years - Marsha’s four children: Kathy (Dale) Adams, Lynn (Bill) Hardman, David Carpenter, Mikhael (Stephanie) Silverman, 12 grandchildren: Heather, Patrick and Sean Adams, Alexis Levesque, Maya and Nathan Hardman, Jason (Vendy), Sara (Ben) and Yolanda Carpenter, one great grandchild: Emiliano Oliveros Levesque, five half siblings: Bob, Esther, Mary, Barbara and Terri Johnson, a host of step children, step grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. Her cremains will be interred at Glen Forest Cemetery and a private memorial is planned for a later date. Contributions in her memory may be made to Friends Care Community. Condolences may be expressed to the family by visiting www.jacksonlytle.com.