Sargent Bush Jr. ’59

Sarge Bush died Oct. 8, 2003, from metastatic melanoma.

Born in New Jersey, son of the Rev. Sargent Bush '17, Sarge prepped at Blair Academy. At Princeton he majored in English, sang in Glee Club and Chapel Choir, ate at Elm Club, and met Cynthia Greig at Bryn Mawr College. They were married in 1960.

Following graduation and a short stint at Hanover Bank in NYC, Sarge opted for a six-month Army tour, involuntarily supplemented by a 10-month call-up for the Berlin crisis. Once he was released, the Bushes headed west to the U. of Iowa, where Sarge earned a master's and PhD in English. After four years as an assistant professor of English at Washington and Lee U., he moved to the U. of Wisconsin, where he became a full professor of English in 1979, department chairman from 1980-83, and associate dean for humanities from 1989-94, and in 1999.

Author and editor of five books, Sarge concentrated on early American writing through the 19th century. A colleague, citing Sarge's work with the New England Puritan divines, described him as "one of the greatest expositors of the intellectual history of New England."

To Cynthia and sons Charles and James, the class extends its deepest sympathy.

The Class of 1959