Fred Rush; Letter Carrier, Choir Director

Fred Rush, a retired west San Fernando Valley letter carrier who had been choir director and organist at St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church in Canoga Park, has died in a Santa Barbara hospital. He was 70.

A resident of Santa Ynez, Calif., Rush died Thursday of cancer, said his wife Mildred.

Born in the Raritan Township, N.J., Rush was stationed at Van Nuys Airport as a chaplain’s assistant in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. After he was discharged, Rush earned a bachelor’s degree in music from Johns Hopkins Peabody Institute of Baltimore and came to California in 1951. Soon afterward, he began delivering mail in Woodland Hills and Canoga Park and continued in the job until his retirement in 1977.

Rush also directed the Rocketdyne Men’s Chorus.

Rush directed the choir and played the organ at St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church for about 25 years. After he and wife moved to the Santa Ynez Valley in 1977, Rush was church organist and choir director at Santa Inez Valley Presbyterian Church for two years before going to St. Mark’s-in-the-Valley Episcopal Church in Los Olivos, Calif.

In addition to his wife of 28 years, Rush is survived by his sons Fred Jr. of Lancaster, Glenn of Thousand Oaks and George of Bremerton, Wash.; stepdaughters Sherry Hunt and Elizabeth Hutton, both of Santa Barbara; sister Myrtle Paternoster of Cincinnati, and eight grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held today at the Episcopal church in Los Olivos. Burial will be private. Loper Funeral Chapel in Solvang is handling the arrangements. Donations can be made in Rush’s name to the Santa Barbara chapter of the American Cancer Society.