‘They would be very proud of this’

Barbara Johnson said her parents – the late Jack and Pat Bush – would be thrilled by a dedication ceremony held Saturday, Sept. 21. Almost 30 members of the Bush family, community leaders and St. Ambrose University officials and students gathered in Davenport on Saturday afternoon to dedicate the Jack and Pat Bush Stadium at […]

Barbara Johnson said her parents – the late Jack and Pat Bush – would be thrilled by a dedication ceremony held Saturday, Sept. 21. Almost 30 members of the Bush family, community leaders and St. Ambrose University officials and students gathered in Davenport on Saturday afternoon to dedicate the Jack and Pat Bush Stadium at 620 W. Central Park Ave.

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“They would be delighted by all of this. … They would be very proud of this,” Ms. Johnson, of Bettendorf, said shortly after a brief dedication ceremony held during halftime of the St. Ambrose-Benedictine College football game. The renamed stadium, which includes a football/track and field facility, is part of the St. Vincent's Athletic Complex near Davenport Assumption High School. The Bush family made a significant donation to name the shared stadium – which is used by both St. Ambrose and Assumption – in their honor, according to information from St. Ambrose. “It’s been a fantastic day to recognize a family that has been so generous to  Catholic education,” St. Ambrose President Amy Novak said after Saturday’s ceremony. The ceremony included a blessing of the field by a Catholic priest as members of the Bush family stood near the 10-yard line and in the end zone on the field. Also, several of the family members had their photographs taken next to the Jack and Pat Bush Stadium sign near the end zone. “It’s always been a dream to have their own stadium,” said Mary Walsh, one of the Bush daughters, shortly after Saturday’s events. That stadium includes a regulation-sized football field surrounded by an eight-lane, all-weather outdoor track giving the SAU track and field team an outdoor home. The venue also includes a competition area for field events, bleachers and a building housing concessions, restrooms and a press box, according to information from St. Ambrose. More features could be in the works for the stadium. After Saturday’s ceremony, Ms. Johnson and Ms. Walsh said improvements – such as better seating and bleachers for sports fans – are being planned. They didn’t know when those upgrades would be made. The history of the sports facility goes back 10 years when St. Ambrose made a rezoning request to build a sports facility. The issue was debated and opposed by many neighbors in the region.  Some neighbors feared the noise and traffic congestion a new sports facility might bring to the neighborhood. The Davenport City Council eventually approved the request. However, then Davenport Mayor Bill Gluba vetoed the measure. The issue returned in 2015 when Assumption High School bought the site from St. Ambrose and announced plans to build the sports facility, without the need for approval from the city. Today, those old arguments against the sports facility have been forgotten and the “neighbors have embraced” the field, said Ms. Johnson. “This has all been quite an honor. … Mom and Dad would have been proud of this,” she added. Jack Bush, a 1944 graduate of the former St. Ambrose Academy and a former football player at the University of Notre Dame, along with his wife, Patricia, were longtime supporters of education and athletics.  Mr. Bush was a longtime community leader and business leader in the region. He spent most of his years at a limestone quarrying business, Linwood Stone Products, before gaining a majority interest in the business in 1982. The business was eventually organized as the McCarthy-Bush Corporation, with Mr. Bush being named chairman and CEO in 1985.   Mr. Bush, who died in 2009, was also a philanthropist and involved in many regional organizations.  Patricia Bush died in 2013. She was an owner of the McCarthy-Bush Corp, founded by her grandfather, P.F. McCarthy, in 1897. She was president of the McCarthy-Bush Foundation, which has given to many charitable causes.