Nancy Walker Bush Ellis
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Short description|American environmentalist (1926–2021)}}
{{Infobox person
|birth_name=Nancy Walker Bush
| birth_date = February 4, 1926
| birth_place = Milton, Massachusetts, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2021|1|10|1926|2|4}}
| death_place = Concord, Massachusetts, U.S.
| education = Vassar College
| parents = Prescott Bush
Dorothy Walker
| spouse = {{marriage|Alexander Ellis Jr.|1946|1989|end=d.}}
| party = Republican (1988–2021)
Democratic (before 1988)
| children = {{hlist|Nancy|John|Alexander III|Joe}}
| relatives = George H. W. Bush (brother)
George W. Bush (nephew)
Jeb Bush (nephew)
| family = Bush
}}
Nancy Walker Bush Ellis (February 4, 1926 – January 10, 2021) was an American environmentalist and political campaigner. She was the only sister of former U.S. president George H. W. Bush, and aunt of both former president George W. Bush and the former governor of Florida John Ellis Bush.
Biography
Nancy Walker Bush was born on February 4, 1926, in Milton, Massachusetts, to Prescott Sheldon Bush (1895–1972) and Dorothy Wear Walker Bush (1901–1992). She had four brothers (one was George H. W. Bush) and became a champion tennis player and athlete in her youth. She was educated at the private school Rosemary Hall in Greenwich (now Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford) and Miss Porter's School in Farmington. She graduated from Vassar College with a degree in English in 1946.{{Cite news |last=Seelye |first=Katharine Q. |date=January 10, 2021 |title=Nancy Bush Ellis, Sister and Aunt of Presidents, Dies at 94 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/10/us/nancy-bush-ellis-dead.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110182010/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/10/us/nancy-bush-ellis-dead.html |archive-date=January 10, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=January 10, 2021 }}
On October 26, 1946, at St. Paul's Church in Greenwich, she married Alexander Ellis Jr. (1922–1989), an executive with insurance firm Fairfield & Ellis (which merged into Corroon & Black,{{Cite news |last=Ap |date=1989-12-30 |title=Alexander Ellis 2d, President's Brother-in-Law, 67 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/30/obituaries/alexander-ellis-2d-president-s-brother-in-law-67.html |access-date=2025-06-11 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} now a part of Willis Group Holdings Ltd.). The couple's wedding guests included James L. Buckley, John V. Lindsay, John Chafee, and Nancy's brother George; Office of Strategic Services agent William B. Macomber Jr. was best man.{{Cite news |last=TIMES |first=Special to THE NEW YORK |date=1946-10-27 |title=MISS NANCY BUSH BECOMES A BRIDE; She Is Attended by Nine at Marriage in Glenville, Bonn., to Alexander Ellis Jr. ESCORTED BY HER FATHER William Maoomber Best Man for Yale Alumnus, Former Airborne Lieutenant |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1946/10/27/archives/miss-nancy-bush-becomes-a-bride-she-is-attended-by-nine-at-marriage.html |access-date=2025-06-11 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} Together, they had four children: a daughter, Nancy Walker Ellis Black, and three sons, Alexander, John, and Josiah. The family lived in Concord, Massachusetts before she moved to Beacon Hill after her husband's death.
=Political activities=
Although she had been a liberal Democrat and an environmentalist who actively fundraised for the NAACP and co-chaired the New England section of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund,[http://www.pactworld.org/cs/who_we_are/board_of_directors Pact Board of Directors biographies] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071223134024/http://www.pactworld.org/cs/who_we_are/board_of_directors |date=December 23, 2007 }}, accessed July 15, 2008 she joined the Republican Party in 1988 when her brother ran for president.{{Cite web |title=The Family by Kitty Kelley: Photo Album |url=http://www.randomhouse.com/doubleday/thefamily/photo.php?i=4# |access-date=2025-06-11 |website=www.randomhouse.com}}{{Cite book |last=Kelley |first=Kitty |title=The family: the real story of the Bush dynasty |date=2004 |publisher=Doubleday |isbn=978-0-385-50324-2 |edition=1. |location=New York}} In September 2004, when her nephew was running for reelection, she visited London, Paris[https://web.archive.org/web/20060814222827/http://republicansabroad.org/europe/francenewsletter.pdf "Nancy Bush Ellis voter registration drive"] in Republicans Abroad France Newsletter, Spring 2005, p. 6 and Frankfurt{{Cite press release |title=Nancy Bush Promotes Voter Registration |date=June 28, 2004 |url=http://gopgermany.com/News20040923.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081119151346/http://gopgermany.com/News20040923.htm |archive-date=November 19, 2008 |url-status=live |website=GOP Germany}} on behalf of Republicans Abroad in an effort to encourage Republicans living in Europe to register and vote.{{Cite web |title=Gone, but Not Forgotten - TIME |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,901041025-725068,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090208121759/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,901041025-725068,00.html |archive-date=2009-02-08 |access-date=2025-06-11 |website=www.time.com}}
=Volunteer and charitable activities=
Ellis long volunteered with the Boston United South End Settlement House, of which she was an honorary director.[http://www.uses.org/board_directory.htm United South End Settlements] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704183910/http://www.uses.org/board_directory.htm |date=July 4, 2008 }}, Board of Directors, accessed July 15, 2008 She also volunteered with the New England Medical Center,[http://www.myhospitalwebsite.com/Tufts/webdav/view/TuftsNEMC/Giving/WorkingWondersNewsletter/WW_CompleteSpring08_HR_NL.pdf "Former Board Members Reunite"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116112236/http://www.myhospitalwebsite.com/Tufts/webdav/view/TuftsNEMC/Giving/WorkingWondersNewsletter/WW_CompleteSpring08_HR_NL.pdf |date=January 16, 2021 }} in Tufts Medical Center Floating Hospital for Children Honor Roll of Donors, p. 8 the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the New England Conservatory of Music.[http://www.newenglandconservatory.edu/give/pdf/NEC_annual_2005.pdf New England Conservatory Annual Report, 2005] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513070008/http://www.newenglandconservatory.edu/give/pdf/NEC_annual_2005.pdf |date=May 13, 2008 }}
As a board member of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, an organization that was critical of the George W. Bush administration's widespread encouragement of industry self-regulation,[http://www.massaudubon.org/news/newsarchive.php?id=80&type=editorial Mass Audubon opposes weakening of the federal Endangered Species Act] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727073123/http://www.massaudubon.org/news/newsarchive.php?id=80&type=editorial |date=July 27, 2011 }}, August 2004, Massachusetts Audubon Society, accessed July 15, 2008 Ellis led fundraising efforts to establish Belize's Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area[http://www.massaudubon.org/news/newsarchive.php?id=306&type=news Belize & Tikal, January 2006] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101229183909/http://www.massaudubon.org/news/newsarchive.php?id=306&type=news |date=December 29, 2010 }}, Massachusetts Audubon Society, accessed July 15, 2008 and the environmental conservation program Programme for Belize. She was also a member of the nongovernmental organization Pact.
= Death =
Ellis was hospitalized on December 30, 2020, with a fever and subsequently tested positive for COVID-19 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Massachusetts. She died at an assisted living facility in Concord, Massachusetts, on January 10, 2021, one month shy of her 95th birthday.{{cite news |title=Nancy Bush Ellis, Only Sister To President George H.W. Bush, Dies Of Coronavirus |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2021/01/10/nancy-bush-ellis-only-sister-to-president-george-hw-bush-dies-of-coronavirus/?sh=27caf3b77370 |access-date=10 January 2021 |agency=Forbes}}
Notes
{{Reflist|2}}
{{Bush family}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Nancy Bush}}
Category:Episcopalians from Massachusetts
Category:Massachusetts Democrats
Category:Massachusetts Republicans
Category:People from Milton, Massachusetts
Category:Politicians from Boston