Former US President George H W Bush's Sister Nancy Bush Ellis Dies from COVID-19 at 94
Late Former President George H. W. Bush’s sister sadly died over the weekend after testing positive for the novel coronavirus disease. Nancy Bush Ellis was former President George W. Bush’s aunt.
On Sunday, January 10, 2021, Nancy Bush Ellis passed away at the age of 94. She died at an assisted living facility in Concord, Massachusetts due to complications related to the novel coronavirus disease.
She was initially hospitalized on December 30, 2020, after she developed a fever and tested positive for COVID-19. Her son, Alexander Ellis III revealed that his mother’s health had been failing before she tested positive.
Former President George H.W. Bush celebrates his 88th birthday following the HBO documentary special screening of "41" on June 12, 2012, in Kennebunkport, Maine | Photo: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images
Former President George H. W. Bush’s sister’s condition was worsened by her underlying health issues. Her son revealed that her symptoms quickly got worse within days before she lost her struggle and passed on.
In a phone interview, the biographer and historian of President George Bush, Jon Meacham released a statement in tribute of the late Bush relative. He described Bush Ellis as an athletic, smart, and outgoing person.
Meacham also paid tribute to Bush Ellis by comparing her to the late actress Katharine Hepburn. Besides being former President George W. Bush’s aunt, she worked on various projects for the past decades.
These included promoting anti-poverty causes and environmental ones. She also served as the head of the New England section of the N.A.A.C.P. Legal Defense and Educational Fund and raised money for the N.A.A.C.P.
Bush Ellis was also an honorary director and a board member of the Massachusetts Audubon Society. She also created the Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area in Belize.
Bush’s sister also helped fight worldwide poverty by being on the board of the organization Pact. In sports, she was a fierce tennis player who often practiced her skills by challenging her four brothers.
Her late brother, the former President H. W. Bush was actually a baseball player. He got to play in the first two College World Series tournaments and met baseball legendary star, Babe Ruth, as a player at Yale.
She was born on February 4, 1926, in Milton, Massachusetts as Nancy Walker Bush. Her mother was Dorothy Walker Bush and her father was Prescott Sheldon Bush, a man who worked on Wall Street.
In 1952, her father was elected to the US Senate from Connecticut. She attended Rosemary Hall, a private school in Greenwich, and also Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Connecticut.
Bush Ellis graduated in 1946 after majoring in English at Vassar. She married Alexander Ellis Jr. that same year and they had four children in their lifetime and lived in Concord.
Ellis Jr. sadly died in 1989, leaving his widow to move to Beacon Hill in Boston. There she supported the arts, theater, and music plus numerous charitable and nonprofit organizations.
[Nancy Bush Ellis’s] death was also announced on Twitter by the George & Barbara Bush Foundation.
Bush’s sister also participated in seminars at Radcliffe. She is survived by her sons Ellis III, Josiah Wear Ellis and John Prescott Ellis, and daughter Nancy Walker Ellis Black.
Bush Ellis is also survived by one surviving brother Jonathan James Bush, nine grandchildren, and eleven great-grandchildren. Her death was also announced on Twitter by the George & Barbara Bush Foundation.