Monroe retailer ran string of clothing shops

5/16/2004

MONROE - Sally Rush, who ran retail clothing stores with her husband for 50 years, died Friday in the Medilodge of Monroe. She was 92.

The family did not know the cause of death, her son Harold Rush said.

Mrs. Rush met her future husband, Francis, in the early 1930s. He was a retail clothing manager.

"They've always been retailers," their son said.

The couple ran women's clothing stores, beginning with Rush's Lady Store in 1944. Over the years, they also ran Rush's Fashion Center and Sally's.

Mrs. Rush worked in sales, side by side with her husband.

They worked hard because they enjoyed their jobs and liked to meet people, their son said.

"They had no hobbies, they just loved to work," he said.

In 1974, they opened Mister R Men's Wear with their son Harold. It closed in 1994.

Mrs. Rush was born here Sept. 30, 1911, to Benjamin and Anna Toksen. Her family moved to Detroit for a few years when she was in her late teens, and she graduated from high school there.

In 1933, she married Francis Rush. He died in 1994.

Mrs. Rush enjoyed playing bridge with a regular group and was a founding member of the Lotus Garden Club, although she did not like gardening.

"At that time, it was the in thing to do," her son said. "She never pulled a weed in her life."

A life member of Hadassah, she was a member of Temple B'Nai Israel of Toledo and Temple B'Nai Israel of Monroe.

Surviving are her sons, Harold A. Rush and Barrie J. Rush; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Services will be held at 1 p.m. tomorrow in the Robert H. Wick/Wisniewski Funeral Home, Toledo.

The family suggests tributes to the Temple B'Nai Israel of Monroe.