Barbara Lynn "Barb" Bush (Lawson), age 73, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, passed away peacefully in her sleep on May 13, 2026. Born on March 2, 1953, Barb spent her entire life in Grand Rapids, building a life rooted in family, faith, resilience, community, and helping anyone who needed it.

Barb met the love of her life, Gordon Bush, at his karate school after signing up for self-defense classes. Gord famously told his business partner the first day she walked through the door that he was going to marry her, and that he did. They married in 1978 and built a life together filled with love, chaos, perseverance, foster children, entrepreneurship, hospitals, laughter, faith, and more than a few stories that could only happen to the Bush family.

Shortly after welcoming their first daughter, Andrea, Gord's long battle with kidney disease intensified. In one of Barb's favorite family stories, Gord received the call for a kidney transplant on December 15, 1982, which also happened to be the due date of their second daughter, Lisa. Gord underwent transplant surgery at St. Mary's Hospital, and two weeks later, Lisa was born at that same hospital. From then on, they knew they'd never do anything the normal way.

Throughout Gord's lifelong health struggles and four kidney transplants, Barb was his constant. She sat through endless surgeries, dialysis sessions, hospital stays, setbacks, and recoveries without complaint. But Barb was never someone who simply survived hard things quietly. She built, created, helped, and kept moving forward.

Out of the basement of her home, Barb started The Potpourri: Flowers & Gifts That Last, preserving flowers from weddings and funerals long before preservation became trendy. What started as a small home business eventually grew into a beloved storefront in Alger Heights, where Barb became a fixture in the community and later president of the business association. Many customers and employees knew Gord simply as "Mr. Barb," something he wore proudly.

As if running a business and caring for a husband with persistent health problems wasn't enough, Barb and Gord also opened their home to children in foster care through Native American Indian Child Welfare. Deeply rooted in their Christian faith and Gord's Native American heritage through the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, they believed strongly that Native children deserved to remain connected to their culture and community. What began as foster care to several children over the years eventually became adoption when Shelly and Chrystal joined the family permanently. Even after Andrea and Lisa moved out, Barb continued fostering teenage girls because she always had a soft spot for the kids who were harder to place and often overlooked.

In 2007, Barb lost Gord after his long and courageous battle with kidney disease. Even after his passing, hardly a day went by where she didn't mention him, tell a Gord story, or remind everyone exactly what he would have thought about something. Losing Gord changed her life forever, but true to who she was, Barb kept going. She continued building, helping, fostering, volunteering, working, loving her family fiercely, and finding purpose in caring for others.

Never one to sit still for long, Barb eventually traded flowers for ice cream and transformed her longtime gift shop into Sundaes in the Heights. Later, she worked for the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi as a Community Health Representative, helping Tribal Members access healthcare, transportation, services, and support until her retirement in 2017. Retirement, however, lasted about five minutes. Barb quickly became a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer and started another small business, Bush7, in memory of Gord.

Barb had a larger-than-life personality. She was funny, sarcastic, blunt, generous, fiercely loyal, and deeply compassionate. She said what she thought, loved hard, helped endlessly, and somehow always found another person to take care of. She had a special heart for the underdog, for people struggling quietly, and for anyone who needed someone in their corner.

Barb also openly battled depression and mental health struggles throughout much of her life with remarkable resilience and honesty. She believed deeply in God, in grace, and in continuing to fight even on the hardest days. Her compassion for others often came from understanding pain herself, and she cared deeply about making sure people felt seen, supported, and never alone.

A special thank you to Bill VanLonkhuyzen of At Lifeline Intervention Therapeutics. Bill gave our family additional time with Barb through his countless treatment sessions and unwavering support during her battle with depression. Barb's family is forever grateful for the care, compassion, and hope he provided over the years.

More than anything, Barb loved her family, by blood or chosen. She is survived by her daughters Andrea (Joe) Rainer, Lisa (Carl) Barrett, Shelly (Shahare) Morris, and Chrystal Bush; her grandchildren Taye, Kaelyn, Jade and Reid; her fur grandchildren Obie, Oscar, Byron and Mason; her siblings Mary Sytsma and Tom (Renee) Lawson; extended family; countless foster children; friends who became family; and a community that knew if Barb was in your corner, you were loved fiercely.

True to who Barb was, there will be no traditional funeral. Instead, family and friends are invited to "Barb's Bash" on Thursday, June 4, 2026, from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at FireRock Grille, 7177 Kalamazoo Ave SE, Caledonia, MI 49316. The gathering will be open-house style with appetizers and an open bar provided. Guests are encouraged to bring a photo, memory, or story to share as we celebrate a woman who never did anything halfway and never did anything the normal way.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Barb's memory to the Mental Health Foundation of West Michigan to support mental health awareness, advocacy, and care for those struggling in our community. www.BeNice.Org