UNION: A celebration of life service will be held on Sunday, October 16, 2022, at 3:00 P.M. at First Baptist Church in Union with burial in the Pine Grove Baptist Church Cemetery of House.  Dr. Jon Martin and Dr. Corey Fontan will officiate.

Visitation will be held from 1:30 - 3:00 P.M. at First Baptist Church of Union.

Hughie Jerome Rush, Sr., was born on March 24, 1941, in Union, Mississippi, to Nilon and Ruby Keen Rush.  Welcomed home by his two older brothers, Clifton and Jerrel, Jerome was raised on the family farm in the House community.  When Jerome was nine years old, he tragically lost his father in a car accident.  At Pine Grove Baptist Church at the age of 13,  Jerome made the most important decision of his life and accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.

Jerome attended school in House through his eleventh grade year when the school dissolved and he began attending Meridian High School. A basketball and baseball student athlete, he graduated in 1959.  After high school, he moved to Dallas, Texas, to attend a technical school and graduated from the electrical program. Jerome spent the next sixty years working in the electrical and telecommunications field doing both private electrical work and working for Western Electric, later known as AT&T and Lucent Technologies.

In June of 1962, Jerome married Margaret Sharp of Sebastopol.  After residing in Dallas for three years, the couple returned to Union where they raised their two children, Ginger Marlo, and Hughie "Hugh" Jerome Rush, Jr.  Jerome counted it a blessing to reside in Union and to be a member of First Baptist Church, and in addition to his faith and his family, his next great love was always the Ole Miss Rebels.  In 2001, Jerome's company began a realignment and asked him to relocate to New York for work.  Knowing that his first grandchild was on the way, Jerome quickly chose retirement over the option to relocate.  Along with gardening after retirement, Jerome joyfully embraced his new title as "Pops" to Chandler, Marlayna, Bankston, Isabella, Luke, and Rush.  The grandchildren have built cherished memories with Pops playing in the pool, working in the garden, and seeing him in the crowd at their ball games and church and school events.

On October 13, Jerome passed peacefully from this earth and entered his eternal reward, and his family will forever treasure his love and life.

Survivors include  his wife of sixty years, Margaret Sharp Rush; one daughter, Marlo Cooksey and her husband Jerry of Atlanta, Georgia; one son, Hugh Rush and his wife Deanna of Union; six grandchildren: Chandler Rush, Marlayna Cookey, Bankston Rush, Isabella Cooksey, Luke Rush, and Rush Cooksey.  Jerome is preceded in death by his parents, Nilon and Ruby Rush; his brothers, Clifton Rush and Jerrel Rush; and an infant daughter, Lori Ann Rush.