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... From Kelly Hunsaker, ...

My name is Kelly Hunsaker. I live in Colorado, USA. I grew up in Iowa and Colorado. I am currently disable due to the effects of Lupus Cerebritis. Before that I was a practicing Corporate Tax Attorney. I have two nearly grown children.

My favorite hobbies are reading and working on my family genealogy. A few years ago I decided to Google my great aunt Gertrude Josephine Bush / Sister Eustella. That decision led me to many, many stories of her experiences as a nun -- first in China (including her time in Weihsien) and then in the American West teaching on an Indian reservation. I was immediately enthralled. She has become my person heroine. I continue to seek her life stories.

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Was she or was she not?

My great aunt is Sister Eustella Bush. A few years ago I was able to get an email to Mary Previte who posted it to your topica list. From that I found there is some confusion. Sister Eustella was born Gertrude Bush and worked at St Joseph’s school In Tsingtao both before and after the war. She left China in 1949 when the Communists came into power. I have seen her ...



Franciscans in Shantung, China, 1929-1948

"1946: In December Sister Clementia of the Springfield Franciscan Sisters with their hospital in Tsinanfu, and Sister Julian flew by commercial plane from Tsinanfu to Tsingtao and stayed with the School Sisters of St. Francis in order to obtain United States Armed Forces supplies. Never had Sister Julian seen such a quantity of hospital supplies ...



June 30, 1932

The past year has brought with it much unforeseen work in this far-off land of war and unrest. It is interesting to know that in our own particular school not an hour of study was lost on account of China’s state of political chaos wile in other cities weeks, months, even ...



October 2, 1932

When the boat neared the wharf we saw no Sisters on deck, but soon we saw them peeping from the port holes. Sister Turibia laughed and cried simultaneously. I was quite concerned about getting their luggage through free from customs duty, but ...



February 10, 1938,

After the fifteen thousand Japanese residents evacuated from Tsingtao in late August, everything was comparatively quiet here. It is true, thousands of people were constantly coming and going in an attempt to find a place of safety. All boats and trains entering and leaving Tsingtao were crowded to their capacity. The majority of these people knew ...



REPORT: LIFE UNDER THE JAPANESE
JUNE 11, 1942 - SEPTEMBER 27, 1945
by: Sister Eustella

After Sisters Confirma, Turibia, and Fides left with the prisoner exchange group inJune 1942, the remaining members of our group - Sisters Hiltrudis, Blanda, Donatilla, Callista, Verna, Eustella (me), and our returned Chinese Sisters, Adolph, George, Marie and Anne spent a quiet summer. ...



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