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Bobby Rush's Wife Carolyn Dead At 67 After Illness: 'I Am Devastated'

By DNAinfo Staff | March 13, 2017 1:50pm | Updated on March 15, 2017 11:30am
 Rep. Bobby Rush's wife Carolyn died Monday at the age of 68.
Rep. Bobby Rush's wife Carolyn died Monday at the age of 68.
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CHICAGO — The wife of U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, Carolyn, died Monday of heart failure after a monthslong illness, the Illinois Democrat announced. 

“Today I have lost my best friend, the love of my life, my confidant and my best half,” Rush said.

The congressman was at Carolyn's bedside when she died at University of Chicago Hospital, his office said.

“This is one of the most difficult days of my life. If there is any comfort at all, it is in knowing that Carolyn is no longer suffering and that she has returned to our Father in heaven. I will always cherish her. She was everything to me. I am devastated" Rush said.

Carolyn Rush was born in Tennessee but moved to Chicago at an early age, graduating from Hirsch High School and Roosevelt University. 

She and her husband were both active in the civil rights movement. While Bobby Rush founded the Illinois chapter of the Black Panthers in 1968, Carolyn worked as a community organizer, precinct captain and political strategist. 

Bobby and Carolyn Rush were married for 36 years and had seven children. Their son Huey was murdered in 1999. Carolyn Rush also is survived by 11 grandchildren. 

In a statement, Mayor Rahm Emanuel called Carolyn Rush "an uplifting voice for compassion and inclusion in the city of Chicago." 

"Amy [Rule] and I join Chicagoans throughout the city in extending our deepest condolences to Congressman Rush, the entire Rush family, and all those who are mourning her loss," the mayor said. 

In announcing his wife's death, the congressman gave a nod to criticism he's received lately for being absent in Washington, D.C. 

“I also express my sincerest appreciation to my colleagues in Congress, and to my constituents for understanding why it was so important for me to be with my wife when I also had to be in Washington," he said.

"Choosing to be with her until the very end was really no choice for me at all. As her husband it was my duty, and as a man of God it was also my responsibility to be by her side. Carolyn never left my side when I was diagnosed with cancer. She’s the reason I’m still here. I will forever miss my friend,” he said.

Funeral information for Carolyn Rush was not immediately available.