Longtime Jackson resident Joe E. Bush died May 17 of acute kidney failure in Blackfoot, Idaho. His family provided the following.
Joe was born on Aug. 4, 1933, in Sundance to Guy and Daisy Bush. He was the eldest of four sons: Joe, Louie, Roy and Roche. Joe's dad, Guy, worked as a ranch hand in Sundance, Lander and Pinedale, eventually leading the Bush family to settle in Jackson in 1944.
Joe was about 11 years old when they arrived in Jackson, where he attended elementary school and then Jackson-Wilson High School. Joe excelled in all sports. He was on the ski team as well as wrestling and boxing. Most important to him was football. He played quarterback and was awarded a football scholarship to the University of Wyoming. Illness brought Joe home for a period of time, and when he recovered he made a decision to attend Western Nebraska Community College in Scottsbluff.
Joe signed up for the Army in 1953 and served in England and Germany during the Korean War. He returned to Jackson in 1955 and worked jobs around the valley, but the one we all remember best was at the Green's Sawmill in Wilson.
In early 1963 Joe was involved in a critical accident while taking a friend to his home up the Gros Ventre. His vehicle rolled and fell down a huge cliff. Joe was thrown from the vehicle and hung onto a piece of sagebrush on the wall of the canyon all night. They found him the following day, and Joe was immediately transported to Salt Lake City, where he found out that his spinal cord had been severed and the remainder of his life would be spent as a paraplegic. Joe was then flown to a Veterans Hospital in Long Beach, California, where he underwent rehabilitation for the next year, learning to live a full life in spite of his circumstances. For many this may be where the story would end, but for those of us who know and love Joe, we know it was really where the story began.
Joe returned home from Long Beach in 1964 and began the process of sorting through the circumstances of his new life. The next few years were difficult for Joe as he struggled with reconciling his new life with the one he had looked forward to previously. But God had a plan — he was sending a few angels to help put together all the components necessary to complete the life that lay ahead for Joe.
The first angels of course were his family, parents and brothers, who struggled to support Joe the best way they knew how during a most difficult time.
Another angel was there in the form of longtime friend Thorton Davis. Thorton was delivering gas in those days, and he tried to take Joe on gas deliveries around the county just to get him out of the house.
Jobs led to lifetime friendships
Another "unlikely" angel entered Joe's life when he took a job as dispatcher for the Teton County Sheriff's Office. There he met his lifetime friend, Loyd Laker. Loyd assumed his position in the passenger seat of Joe's old green Chevy pickup truck, and Joe took the wheel. It was there that Joe began to drive in and out of the hearts of so many for so many years.
About 1968 Joe took a job as bookkeeper for Jerry and Joyce Wilson of Wilson Construction. The job quickly evolved into a lifetime relationship, and much to Joe's delight the relationship extended to their two daughters, Julie and Holly. We all know now that Joe's highest calling was to become best friend and grandpa to many children, and it began with these two girls. In later years you could still hear Joe bragging about Holly's exceptional ability to operate heavy equipment, better than most men, and the immense pride he took in Julie's uncanny talent as a horsewoman.
Joe also kept books for Sandy and Wanda Divan at JB Mechanical during that same time, and again formed a friendship that continued right up to a short visit with Joe a few weeks ago as he fought his final battle in Blackfoot, Idaho.
When Jerry Wilson retired some 20 years later, Joe went to work for Monty and Sherry Evans at Evans Construction. Once again his job evolved into a lifetime relationship. Joe officially retired from Evans Construction in 1995. Monty and Sherry planned and executed a memorable retirement party at which time Sherry presented Joe with his first electric wheelchair. The wheelchair was presented to Joe with an attachment, a little red wagon that Sherry was riding in with a sign that said "Hog Island Squaw," a term Joe had affectionately assigned to Sherry. The gift was presented lightly but it changed Joe's life, just like that fatal accident up the Gros Ventre had done so many years before. Before that Joe had walked on steel crutches almost everywhere he went and transferred when necessary to a manual wheelchair. From that day forward you never knew where you would find Joe. He had his legs back, and he used them every day for the rest of his life.
Starting a 40-year relationship
Sometime during his years at Wilson Construction he worked at the concession stand at the Jackson Hole Rodeo, and there he renewed a friendship with Rose White. Rose was a game changer.
Joe and Rose formed a relationship that spanned the next 40 years. They became inseparable, floating and fishing the Snake River and the Green River, fishing Jackson Lake with their "Brown Jug" in the summer and their snowplane in the winter. They caught fish that the rest of us could only dream about. Joe was instrumental in organizing the Bush, Mayer, Toolson Fishing Derby, an annual event that attracted fisherman far and wide from 1984 to 2015. Joe and Rose were notorious for exploring the mountain roads and sometimes mountain trails that Jackson Hole had to offer. They hauled their own firewood in the fall and hunted antelope on the desert. (Ask Rose about the moose Joe shot that she had to gut, under Joe's careful supervision).
Rose's kids were suddenly orphaned. "Mom" and "Grandma Rosie" had disappeared into the great outdoors with Joe Bush. It did not take long, however, for Joe to work his magic and draw Rose's family into their excursions. Joe had officially found the family they said he would never have, complete with kids, grandkids and great-grandkids.
There were a number of annual rituals. Many of those included loading up Daisy and traveling to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to visit brother Roy and his family or to Elko, Nevada, to visit Roche and his family. Joe and Rose attended the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo in Denver from 1975 to 2005 (30 years). They weathered many storms to attend the Dodge National Finals Rodeo in Pocatello, Idaho, every year for years.
In the early '90s Joe concluded his passionate relationship with Jackson Lake and entered into a new passion. Joe formed a partnership with Stan Barthel of Barthel Paint and Quarter Horses and they began yet another journey: criss-crossing the Western states gathering and putting together a herd of mares and select stallions, producing and exhibiting a line of all-around paint and quarter horses that continue to perform regionally as well as nationally. Their breeding program kept them on the leading breeders list with the American Paint Horse Association over a span of 20 years and culminated in three World Championships earned by a horse they had raised.
Joe displayed the same passion with the horses as he had as the master fisherman of Jackson Lake and as a football quarterback. You could find that wheelchair cruising up and down the arena fences from Texas to Montana and Boise, Idaho, to Kansas City, Kansas. Always cheering, supporting and sometimes even cussing the horses and horseman with complete bias for his own pedigree.
In 2006 Joe and Rose and Daisy found their way to Mesquite, Nevada, for the winter. Joe and Daisy purchased a condominium, and near every Thanksgiving they would head south. Again, Joe was right at home and of course there were many friends from Jackson who also lived in the area. They enjoyed a couple of winters in Mesquite with Daisy, and then in 2009 Daisy passed away. Joe and Rose continued to head south for the winter right up to this past winter.
While they were in Mesquite the past couple of years they managed to find yet another pastime. Don and LoyDean Barney had since ventured to Mesquite for the winters, and they began to explore the desert on their new 4-wheelers. Again Joe loved the freedom that the wheels afforded him and he looked forward to their trips into the desert with friends and family.
In 2010, following the sale of the Bush property in Jackson, Joe and Rose moved their primary residence to Blackfoot, Idaho. The horse operation was located in Blackfoot, and the move gave Joe more time to be involved in day-to-day operations with less time commuting. It was not unusual to find Joe supplying the show barn with hay, by pushing the hay with his wheelchair or watering the horses in the paddocks, only to get stuck in the sand and have to catch a passing grandchild to go for reinforcements. Joe then purchased a golf cart, and he and Rose sprayed weeds, scattered seeds in the pastures and even herded the horses in from time to time.
Jackson was always home
Jackson would always be home to Joe, and Joe clung to his Wyoming license plates on all of his vehicles until just this last year. He also kept the Wyoming cowboy symbol hanging over the entrance to his Idaho home.
This past year Joe and Rose returned home to Blackfoot from Mesquite at the end of April, to get Joe closer to his doctor. Joe took temporary residency at the Bingham Memorial Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Blackfoot to receive wound care for some leg sores. After overcoming the infection in his legs and completing the intense physical therapy necessary to return home, Joe was unexpectedly diagnosed with acute kidney failure and kidney dialysis was suggested. At that time Joe made a final courageous decision not to accept a treatment that would only serve to prolong the obstacles he faced this past year.
Joe was preceded in death by his parents, Guy and Daisy Bush, brother Louie Bush and niece Megan Lloyd. He is survived by Rose White, brother Roy Bush and wife Ann, brother Roche Bush and wife Maggie, six nieces, one nephew, five great-nephews and two great-nieces. He also is survived by Rose's four children and their spouses, seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Joe was born on Aug. 4, 1933, in Sundance to Guy and Daisy Bush. He was the eldest of four sons: Joe, Louie, Roy and Roche. Joe's dad, Guy, worked as a ranch hand in Sundance, Lander and Pinedale, eventually leading the Bush family to settle in Jackson in 1944.
Joe was about 11 years old when they arrived in Jackson, where he attended elementary school and then Jackson-Wilson High School. Joe excelled in all sports. He was on the ski team as well as wrestling and boxing. Most important to him was football. He played quarterback and was awarded a football scholarship to the University of Wyoming. Illness brought Joe home for a period of time, and when he recovered he made a decision to attend Western Nebraska Community College in Scottsbluff.
Joe signed up for the Army in 1953 and served in England and Germany during the Korean War. He returned to Jackson in 1955 and worked jobs around the valley, but the one we all remember best was at the Green's Sawmill in Wilson.
In early 1963 Joe was involved in a critical accident while taking a friend to his home up the Gros Ventre. His vehicle rolled and fell down a huge cliff. Joe was thrown from the vehicle and hung onto a piece of sagebrush on the wall of the canyon all night. They found him the following day, and Joe was immediately transported to Salt Lake City, where he found out that his spinal cord had been severed and the remainder of his life would be spent as a paraplegic. Joe was then flown to a Veterans Hospital in Long Beach, California, where he underwent rehabilitation for the next year, learning to live a full life in spite of his circumstances. For many this may be where the story would end, but for those of us who know and love Joe, we know it was really where the story began.
Joe returned home from Long Beach in 1964 and began the process of sorting through the circumstances of his new life. The next few years were difficult for Joe as he struggled with reconciling his new life with the one he had looked forward to previously. But God had a plan — he was sending a few angels to help put together all the components necessary to complete the life that lay ahead for Joe.
The first angels of course were his family, parents and brothers, who struggled to support Joe the best way they knew how during a most difficult time.
Another angel was there in the form of longtime friend Thorton Davis. Thorton was delivering gas in those days, and he tried to take Joe on gas deliveries around the county just to get him out of the house.
Jobs led to lifetime friendships
Another "unlikely" angel entered Joe's life when he took a job as dispatcher for the Teton County Sheriff's Office. There he met his lifetime friend, Loyd Laker. Loyd assumed his position in the passenger seat of Joe's old green Chevy pickup truck, and Joe took the wheel. It was there that Joe began to drive in and out of the hearts of so many for so many years.
About 1968 Joe took a job as bookkeeper for Jerry and Joyce Wilson of Wilson Construction. The job quickly evolved into a lifetime relationship, and much to Joe's delight the relationship extended to their two daughters, Julie and Holly. We all know now that Joe's highest calling was to become best friend and grandpa to many children, and it began with these two girls. In later years you could still hear Joe bragging about Holly's exceptional ability to operate heavy equipment, better than most men, and the immense pride he took in Julie's uncanny talent as a horsewoman.
Joe also kept books for Sandy and Wanda Divan at JB Mechanical during that same time, and again formed a friendship that continued right up to a short visit with Joe a few weeks ago as he fought his final battle in Blackfoot, Idaho.
When Jerry Wilson retired some 20 years later, Joe went to work for Monty and Sherry Evans at Evans Construction. Once again his job evolved into a lifetime relationship. Joe officially retired from Evans Construction in 1995. Monty and Sherry planned and executed a memorable retirement party at which time Sherry presented Joe with his first electric wheelchair. The wheelchair was presented to Joe with an attachment, a little red wagon that Sherry was riding in with a sign that said "Hog Island Squaw," a term Joe had affectionately assigned to Sherry. The gift was presented lightly but it changed Joe's life, just like that fatal accident up the Gros Ventre had done so many years before. Before that Joe had walked on steel crutches almost everywhere he went and transferred when necessary to a manual wheelchair. From that day forward you never knew where you would find Joe. He had his legs back, and he used them every day for the rest of his life.
Starting a 40-year relationship
Sometime during his years at Wilson Construction he worked at the concession stand at the Jackson Hole Rodeo, and there he renewed a friendship with Rose White. Rose was a game changer.
Joe and Rose formed a relationship that spanned the next 40 years. They became inseparable, floating and fishing the Snake River and the Green River, fishing Jackson Lake with their "Brown Jug" in the summer and their snowplane in the winter. They caught fish that the rest of us could only dream about. Joe was instrumental in organizing the Bush, Mayer, Toolson Fishing Derby, an annual event that attracted fisherman far and wide from 1984 to 2015. Joe and Rose were notorious for exploring the mountain roads and sometimes mountain trails that Jackson Hole had to offer. They hauled their own firewood in the fall and hunted antelope on the desert. (Ask Rose about the moose Joe shot that she had to gut, under Joe's careful supervision).
Rose's kids were suddenly orphaned. "Mom" and "Grandma Rosie" had disappeared into the great outdoors with Joe Bush. It did not take long, however, for Joe to work his magic and draw Rose's family into their excursions. Joe had officially found the family they said he would never have, complete with kids, grandkids and great-grandkids.
There were a number of annual rituals. Many of those included loading up Daisy and traveling to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to visit brother Roy and his family or to Elko, Nevada, to visit Roche and his family. Joe and Rose attended the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo in Denver from 1975 to 2005 (30 years). They weathered many storms to attend the Dodge National Finals Rodeo in Pocatello, Idaho, every year for years.
In the early '90s Joe concluded his passionate relationship with Jackson Lake and entered into a new passion. Joe formed a partnership with Stan Barthel of Barthel Paint and Quarter Horses and they began yet another journey: criss-crossing the Western states gathering and putting together a herd of mares and select stallions, producing and exhibiting a line of all-around paint and quarter horses that continue to perform regionally as well as nationally. Their breeding program kept them on the leading breeders list with the American Paint Horse Association over a span of 20 years and culminated in three World Championships earned by a horse they had raised.
Joe displayed the same passion with the horses as he had as the master fisherman of Jackson Lake and as a football quarterback. You could find that wheelchair cruising up and down the arena fences from Texas to Montana and Boise, Idaho, to Kansas City, Kansas. Always cheering, supporting and sometimes even cussing the horses and horseman with complete bias for his own pedigree.
In 2006 Joe and Rose and Daisy found their way to Mesquite, Nevada, for the winter. Joe and Daisy purchased a condominium, and near every Thanksgiving they would head south. Again, Joe was right at home and of course there were many friends from Jackson who also lived in the area. They enjoyed a couple of winters in Mesquite with Daisy, and then in 2009 Daisy passed away. Joe and Rose continued to head south for the winter right up to this past winter.
While they were in Mesquite the past couple of years they managed to find yet another pastime. Don and LoyDean Barney had since ventured to Mesquite for the winters, and they began to explore the desert on their new 4-wheelers. Again Joe loved the freedom that the wheels afforded him and he looked forward to their trips into the desert with friends and family.
In 2010, following the sale of the Bush property in Jackson, Joe and Rose moved their primary residence to Blackfoot, Idaho. The horse operation was located in Blackfoot, and the move gave Joe more time to be involved in day-to-day operations with less time commuting. It was not unusual to find Joe supplying the show barn with hay, by pushing the hay with his wheelchair or watering the horses in the paddocks, only to get stuck in the sand and have to catch a passing grandchild to go for reinforcements. Joe then purchased a golf cart, and he and Rose sprayed weeds, scattered seeds in the pastures and even herded the horses in from time to time.
Jackson was always home
Jackson would always be home to Joe, and Joe clung to his Wyoming license plates on all of his vehicles until just this last year. He also kept the Wyoming cowboy symbol hanging over the entrance to his Idaho home.
This past year Joe and Rose returned home to Blackfoot from Mesquite at the end of April, to get Joe closer to his doctor. Joe took temporary residency at the Bingham Memorial Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Blackfoot to receive wound care for some leg sores. After overcoming the infection in his legs and completing the intense physical therapy necessary to return home, Joe was unexpectedly diagnosed with acute kidney failure and kidney dialysis was suggested. At that time Joe made a final courageous decision not to accept a treatment that would only serve to prolong the obstacles he faced this past year.
Joe was preceded in death by his parents, Guy and Daisy Bush, brother Louie Bush and niece Megan Lloyd. He is survived by Rose White, brother Roy Bush and wife Ann, brother Roche Bush and wife Maggie, six nieces, one nephew, five great-nephews and two great-nieces. He also is survived by Rose's four children and their spouses, seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Longtime Jackson resident Joe E. Bush died May 17 of acute kidney failure in Blackfoot, Idaho. His family provided the following.
Joe was born on Aug. 4, 1933, in Sundance to Guy and Daisy Bush. He was the eldest of four sons: Joe, Louie, Roy and Roche. Joe's dad, Guy, worked as a ranch hand in Sundance, Lander and Pinedale, eventually leading the Bush family to settle in Jackson in 1944.
Joe was about 11 years old when they arrived in Jackson, where he attended elementary school and then Jackson-Wilson High School. Joe excelled in all sports. He was on the ski team as well as wrestling and boxing. Most important to him was football. He played quarterback and was awarded a football scholarship to the University of Wyoming. Illness brought Joe home for a period of time, and when he recovered he made a decision to attend Western Nebraska Community College in Scottsbluff.
Joe signed up for the Army in 1953 and served in England and Germany during the Korean War. He returned to Jackson in 1955 and worked jobs around the valley, but the one we all remember best was at the Green's Sawmill in Wilson.
In early 1963 Joe was involved in a critical accident while taking a friend to his home up the Gros Ventre. His vehicle rolled and fell down a huge cliff. Joe was thrown from the vehicle and hung onto a piece of sagebrush on the wall of the canyon all night. They found him the following day, and Joe was immediately transported to Salt Lake City, where he found out that his spinal cord had been severed and the remainder of his life would be spent as a paraplegic. Joe was then flown to a Veterans Hospital in Long Beach, California, where he underwent rehabilitation for the next year, learning to live a full life in spite of his circumstances. For many this may be where the story would end, but for those of us who know and love Joe, we know it was really where the story began.
Joe returned home from Long Beach in 1964 and began the process of sorting through the circumstances of his new life. The next few years were difficult for Joe as he struggled with reconciling his new life with the one he had looked forward to previously. But God had a plan — he was sending a few angels to help put together all the components necessary to complete the life that lay ahead for Joe.
The first angels of course were his family, parents and brothers, who struggled to support Joe the best way they knew how during a most difficult time.
Another angel was there in the form of longtime friend Thorton Davis. Thorton was delivering gas in those days, and he tried to take Joe on gas deliveries around the county just to get him out of the house.
Jobs led to lifetime friendships
Another "unlikely" angel entered Joe's life when he took a job as dispatcher for the Teton County Sheriff's Office. There he met his lifetime friend, Loyd Laker. Loyd assumed his position in the passenger seat of Joe's old green Chevy pickup truck, and Joe took the wheel. It was there that Joe began to drive in and out of the hearts of so many for so many years.
About 1968 Joe took a job as bookkeeper for Jerry and Joyce Wilson of Wilson Construction. The job quickly evolved into a lifetime relationship, and much to Joe's delight the relationship extended to their two daughters, Julie and Holly. We all know now that Joe's highest calling was to become best friend and grandpa to many children, and it began with these two girls. In later years you could still hear Joe bragging about Holly's exceptional ability to operate heavy equipment, better than most men, and the immense pride he took in Julie's uncanny talent as a horsewoman.
Joe also kept books for Sandy and Wanda Divan at JB Mechanical during that same time, and again formed a friendship that continued right up to a short visit with Joe a few weeks ago as he fought his final battle in Blackfoot, Idaho.
When Jerry Wilson retired some 20 years later, Joe went to work for Monty and Sherry Evans at Evans Construction. Once again his job evolved into a lifetime relationship. Joe officially retired from Evans Construction in 1995. Monty and Sherry planned and executed a memorable retirement party at which time Sherry presented Joe with his first electric wheelchair. The wheelchair was presented to Joe with an attachment, a little red wagon that Sherry was riding in with a sign that said "Hog Island Squaw," a term Joe had affectionately assigned to Sherry. The gift was presented lightly but it changed Joe's life, just like that fatal accident up the Gros Ventre had done so many years before. Before that Joe had walked on steel crutches almost everywhere he went and transferred when necessary to a manual wheelchair. From that day forward you never knew where you would find Joe. He had his legs back, and he used them every day for the rest of his life.
Starting a 40-year relationship
Sometime during his years at Wilson Construction he worked at the concession stand at the Jackson Hole Rodeo, and there he renewed a friendship with Rose White. Rose was a game changer.
Joe and Rose formed a relationship that spanned the next 40 years. They became inseparable, floating and fishing the Snake River and the Green River, fishing Jackson Lake with their "Brown Jug" in the summer and their snowplane in the winter. They caught fish that the rest of us could only dream about. Joe was instrumental in organizing the Bush, Mayer, Toolson Fishing Derby, an annual event that attracted fisherman far and wide from 1984 to 2015. Joe and Rose were notorious for exploring the mountain roads and sometimes mountain trails that Jackson Hole had to offer. They hauled their own firewood in the fall and hunted antelope on the desert. (Ask Rose about the moose Joe shot that she had to gut, under Joe's careful supervision).
Rose's kids were suddenly orphaned. "Mom" and "Grandma Rosie" had disappeared into the great outdoors with Joe Bush. It did not take long, however, for Joe to work his magic and draw Rose's family into their excursions. Joe had officially found the family they said he would never have, complete with kids, grandkids and great-grandkids.
There were a number of annual rituals. Many of those included loading up Daisy and traveling to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to visit brother Roy and his family or to Elko, Nevada, to visit Roche and his family. Joe and Rose attended the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo in Denver from 1975 to 2005 (30 years). They weathered many storms to attend the Dodge National Finals Rodeo in Pocatello, Idaho, every year for years.
In the early '90s Joe concluded his passionate relationship with Jackson Lake and entered into a new passion. Joe formed a partnership with Stan Barthel of Barthel Paint and Quarter Horses and they began yet another journey: criss-crossing the Western states gathering and putting together a herd of mares and select stallions, producing and exhibiting a line of all-around paint and quarter horses that continue to perform regionally as well as nationally. Their breeding program kept them on the leading breeders list with the American Paint Horse Association over a span of 20 years and culminated in three World Championships earned by a horse they had raised.
Joe displayed the same passion with the horses as he had as the master fisherman of Jackson Lake and as a football quarterback. You could find that wheelchair cruising up and down the arena fences from Texas to Montana and Boise, Idaho, to Kansas City, Kansas. Always cheering, supporting and sometimes even cussing the horses and horseman with complete bias for his own pedigree.
In 2006 Joe and Rose and Daisy found their way to Mesquite, Nevada, for the winter. Joe and Daisy purchased a condominium, and near every Thanksgiving they would head south. Again, Joe was right at home and of course there were many friends from Jackson who also lived in the area. They enjoyed a couple of winters in Mesquite with Daisy, and then in 2009 Daisy passed away. Joe and Rose continued to head south for the winter right up to this past winter.
While they were in Mesquite the past couple of years they managed to find yet another pastime. Don and LoyDean Barney had since ventured to Mesquite for the winters, and they began to explore the desert on their new 4-wheelers. Again Joe loved the freedom that the wheels afforded him and he looked forward to their trips into the desert with friends and family.
In 2010, following the sale of the Bush property in Jackson, Joe and Rose moved their primary residence to Blackfoot, Idaho. The horse operation was located in Blackfoot, and the move gave Joe more time to be involved in day-to-day operations with less time commuting. It was not unusual to find Joe supplying the show barn with hay, by pushing the hay with his wheelchair or watering the horses in the paddocks, only to get stuck in the sand and have to catch a passing grandchild to go for reinforcements. Joe then purchased a golf cart, and he and Rose sprayed weeds, scattered seeds in the pastures and even herded the horses in from time to time.
Jackson was always home
Jackson would always be home to Joe, and Joe clung to his Wyoming license plates on all of his vehicles until just this last year. He also kept the Wyoming cowboy symbol hanging over the entrance to his Idaho home.
This past year Joe and Rose returned home to Blackfoot from Mesquite at the end of April, to get Joe closer to his doctor. Joe took temporary residency at the Bingham Memorial Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Blackfoot to receive wound care for some leg sores. After overcoming the infection in his legs and completing the intense physical therapy necessary to return home, Joe was unexpectedly diagnosed with acute kidney failure and kidney dialysis was suggested. At that time Joe made a final courageous decision not to accept a treatment that would only serve to prolong the obstacles he faced this past year.
Joe was preceded in death by his parents, Guy and Daisy Bush, brother Louie Bush and niece Megan Lloyd. He is survived by Rose White, brother Roy Bush and wife Ann, brother Roche Bush and wife Maggie, six nieces, one nephew, five great-nephews and two great-nieces. He also is survived by Rose's four children and their spouses, seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Joe was born on Aug. 4, 1933, in Sundance to Guy and Daisy Bush. He was the eldest of four sons: Joe, Louie, Roy and Roche. Joe's dad, Guy, worked as a ranch hand in Sundance, Lander and Pinedale, eventually leading the Bush family to settle in Jackson in 1944.
Joe was about 11 years old when they arrived in Jackson, where he attended elementary school and then Jackson-Wilson High School. Joe excelled in all sports. He was on the ski team as well as wrestling and boxing. Most important to him was football. He played quarterback and was awarded a football scholarship to the University of Wyoming. Illness brought Joe home for a period of time, and when he recovered he made a decision to attend Western Nebraska Community College in Scottsbluff.
Joe signed up for the Army in 1953 and served in England and Germany during the Korean War. He returned to Jackson in 1955 and worked jobs around the valley, but the one we all remember best was at the Green's Sawmill in Wilson.
In early 1963 Joe was involved in a critical accident while taking a friend to his home up the Gros Ventre. His vehicle rolled and fell down a huge cliff. Joe was thrown from the vehicle and hung onto a piece of sagebrush on the wall of the canyon all night. They found him the following day, and Joe was immediately transported to Salt Lake City, where he found out that his spinal cord had been severed and the remainder of his life would be spent as a paraplegic. Joe was then flown to a Veterans Hospital in Long Beach, California, where he underwent rehabilitation for the next year, learning to live a full life in spite of his circumstances. For many this may be where the story would end, but for those of us who know and love Joe, we know it was really where the story began.
Joe returned home from Long Beach in 1964 and began the process of sorting through the circumstances of his new life. The next few years were difficult for Joe as he struggled with reconciling his new life with the one he had looked forward to previously. But God had a plan — he was sending a few angels to help put together all the components necessary to complete the life that lay ahead for Joe.
The first angels of course were his family, parents and brothers, who struggled to support Joe the best way they knew how during a most difficult time.
Another angel was there in the form of longtime friend Thorton Davis. Thorton was delivering gas in those days, and he tried to take Joe on gas deliveries around the county just to get him out of the house.
Jobs led to lifetime friendships
Another "unlikely" angel entered Joe's life when he took a job as dispatcher for the Teton County Sheriff's Office. There he met his lifetime friend, Loyd Laker. Loyd assumed his position in the passenger seat of Joe's old green Chevy pickup truck, and Joe took the wheel. It was there that Joe began to drive in and out of the hearts of so many for so many years.
About 1968 Joe took a job as bookkeeper for Jerry and Joyce Wilson of Wilson Construction. The job quickly evolved into a lifetime relationship, and much to Joe's delight the relationship extended to their two daughters, Julie and Holly. We all know now that Joe's highest calling was to become best friend and grandpa to many children, and it began with these two girls. In later years you could still hear Joe bragging about Holly's exceptional ability to operate heavy equipment, better than most men, and the immense pride he took in Julie's uncanny talent as a horsewoman.
Joe also kept books for Sandy and Wanda Divan at JB Mechanical during that same time, and again formed a friendship that continued right up to a short visit with Joe a few weeks ago as he fought his final battle in Blackfoot, Idaho.
When Jerry Wilson retired some 20 years later, Joe went to work for Monty and Sherry Evans at Evans Construction. Once again his job evolved into a lifetime relationship. Joe officially retired from Evans Construction in 1995. Monty and Sherry planned and executed a memorable retirement party at which time Sherry presented Joe with his first electric wheelchair. The wheelchair was presented to Joe with an attachment, a little red wagon that Sherry was riding in with a sign that said "Hog Island Squaw," a term Joe had affectionately assigned to Sherry. The gift was presented lightly but it changed Joe's life, just like that fatal accident up the Gros Ventre had done so many years before. Before that Joe had walked on steel crutches almost everywhere he went and transferred when necessary to a manual wheelchair. From that day forward you never knew where you would find Joe. He had his legs back, and he used them every day for the rest of his life.
Starting a 40-year relationship
Sometime during his years at Wilson Construction he worked at the concession stand at the Jackson Hole Rodeo, and there he renewed a friendship with Rose White. Rose was a game changer.
Joe and Rose formed a relationship that spanned the next 40 years. They became inseparable, floating and fishing the Snake River and the Green River, fishing Jackson Lake with their "Brown Jug" in the summer and their snowplane in the winter. They caught fish that the rest of us could only dream about. Joe was instrumental in organizing the Bush, Mayer, Toolson Fishing Derby, an annual event that attracted fisherman far and wide from 1984 to 2015. Joe and Rose were notorious for exploring the mountain roads and sometimes mountain trails that Jackson Hole had to offer. They hauled their own firewood in the fall and hunted antelope on the desert. (Ask Rose about the moose Joe shot that she had to gut, under Joe's careful supervision).
Rose's kids were suddenly orphaned. "Mom" and "Grandma Rosie" had disappeared into the great outdoors with Joe Bush. It did not take long, however, for Joe to work his magic and draw Rose's family into their excursions. Joe had officially found the family they said he would never have, complete with kids, grandkids and great-grandkids.
There were a number of annual rituals. Many of those included loading up Daisy and traveling to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to visit brother Roy and his family or to Elko, Nevada, to visit Roche and his family. Joe and Rose attended the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo in Denver from 1975 to 2005 (30 years). They weathered many storms to attend the Dodge National Finals Rodeo in Pocatello, Idaho, every year for years.
In the early '90s Joe concluded his passionate relationship with Jackson Lake and entered into a new passion. Joe formed a partnership with Stan Barthel of Barthel Paint and Quarter Horses and they began yet another journey: criss-crossing the Western states gathering and putting together a herd of mares and select stallions, producing and exhibiting a line of all-around paint and quarter horses that continue to perform regionally as well as nationally. Their breeding program kept them on the leading breeders list with the American Paint Horse Association over a span of 20 years and culminated in three World Championships earned by a horse they had raised.
Joe displayed the same passion with the horses as he had as the master fisherman of Jackson Lake and as a football quarterback. You could find that wheelchair cruising up and down the arena fences from Texas to Montana and Boise, Idaho, to Kansas City, Kansas. Always cheering, supporting and sometimes even cussing the horses and horseman with complete bias for his own pedigree.
In 2006 Joe and Rose and Daisy found their way to Mesquite, Nevada, for the winter. Joe and Daisy purchased a condominium, and near every Thanksgiving they would head south. Again, Joe was right at home and of course there were many friends from Jackson who also lived in the area. They enjoyed a couple of winters in Mesquite with Daisy, and then in 2009 Daisy passed away. Joe and Rose continued to head south for the winter right up to this past winter.
While they were in Mesquite the past couple of years they managed to find yet another pastime. Don and LoyDean Barney had since ventured to Mesquite for the winters, and they began to explore the desert on their new 4-wheelers. Again Joe loved the freedom that the wheels afforded him and he looked forward to their trips into the desert with friends and family.
In 2010, following the sale of the Bush property in Jackson, Joe and Rose moved their primary residence to Blackfoot, Idaho. The horse operation was located in Blackfoot, and the move gave Joe more time to be involved in day-to-day operations with less time commuting. It was not unusual to find Joe supplying the show barn with hay, by pushing the hay with his wheelchair or watering the horses in the paddocks, only to get stuck in the sand and have to catch a passing grandchild to go for reinforcements. Joe then purchased a golf cart, and he and Rose sprayed weeds, scattered seeds in the pastures and even herded the horses in from time to time.
Jackson was always home
Jackson would always be home to Joe, and Joe clung to his Wyoming license plates on all of his vehicles until just this last year. He also kept the Wyoming cowboy symbol hanging over the entrance to his Idaho home.
This past year Joe and Rose returned home to Blackfoot from Mesquite at the end of April, to get Joe closer to his doctor. Joe took temporary residency at the Bingham Memorial Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Blackfoot to receive wound care for some leg sores. After overcoming the infection in his legs and completing the intense physical therapy necessary to return home, Joe was unexpectedly diagnosed with acute kidney failure and kidney dialysis was suggested. At that time Joe made a final courageous decision not to accept a treatment that would only serve to prolong the obstacles he faced this past year.
Joe was preceded in death by his parents, Guy and Daisy Bush, brother Louie Bush and niece Megan Lloyd. He is survived by Rose White, brother Roy Bush and wife Ann, brother Roche Bush and wife Maggie, six nieces, one nephew, five great-nephews and two great-nieces. He also is survived by Rose's four children and their spouses, seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
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