Gerda R. Bushika, 74
FLORIDA, Mass. â€' Gerda Rebecca Bushika, 74, formerly of Tilda Hill Road, died Tuesday, June 9, 2009 at Griffin Hospital in Derby, Conn.
Born in North Adams on Dec. 25, 1934, to Eugene and Vera Christina Mullette, she graduated from Drury High School in 1952. She had resided in Florida for 70 years, most of those in the house her husband, George Edward Bushika, built on Tilda Hill Road, just down the street from where she grew up.
Mrs. Bushika was employed by McDonald's in North Adams for 10 years, retiring in 1996. Immediately after high school, she had worked for three years with Dr. Briskon, an orthodontist in Pittsfield. She later provided child care in her home for neighbors and her grandchildren from 1980 to 1986, when taught kindergarten at East Charlemont Christian School.
Her husband of 48 years died Oct. 29, 2001.
She leaves two sons, Martin Bushika and his wife, Caroline Lazar, and Jerry Bushika and his wife, Patricia; three daughters and sons-in-law, Valerie and Francis Grillone, Kimberly and William Wallen and Karen and Christopher Hustek; a brother, Irving Mullette and his wife, Rosalyn; two sisters, Vera Kelton and her husband, William, and Diane Mitchell and her husband, Paul; 17 grandchildren; six great-granddaughters, with a seventh great-grandchild due in September; 10 nieces and nephews from her siblings; and 11 brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law and 33 nieces and nephews.
FUNERAL NOTICE â€' The funeral for Mrs. Bushika will be at the Rowe Community Church on Saturday, June 13, at 10 a.m. followed by burial in Florida Town Cemetery. There will be a gathering immediately following the burial at Bounti-Fare on Curran Highway in Adams.
Calling hours will be Friday, June 12, from 4 to 8 p.m. at Flynn & Dagnoli-Montagna Home for Funerals, West Chapels, 521 West Main St., North Adams. It was Mrs. Bushika's wish that any donations on her behalf be made to the Rowe Community Church for the Franklin County Jail Ministry, which can be mailed to the church at 278 Zoar Road, Rowe, MA 01367.