William Rauschert Dally February 07, 1941 – January 13, 2019 Share this obituary Send Flowers Sign Guestbook| Send Private Condolences| Send Sympathy Card Rush passed away in his sleep on Jan. 13, after a year long battle with Leukemia. He had spent his last day visiting with close friends and family and an evening watching football with his sons, Benjamin, Ky and wife, Shelley.
For Rush, family was everything and he was so lucky to have his daughters, Sabina Calhoun and Selinde Dulckeit visit him frequently during his last year. His greatest joy was watching his grandchildren grow, Dean, Marieka, Quinn, Finn and Joseph. Born Feb.
7, 1941 in the little “hospital” on Elizabeth Street in Vacaville, he spent the majority of his life in his hometown of Elmira. Rush attended college, served in the army in Germany, and returned home to become a teacher in Vacaville Unified School District. He was a man who “did what needed to be done”, a quiet leader.
He served 30 years as a volunteer fireman in the Vacaville Rural Fire district. When Elmira had a crisis in the water supply, he brought the Elmira citizens together with state officials and SID to clean up the pollution and create a lasting clean water for the town. He served the youth of Vacaville, coaching his sons’ teams of football, T-ball, baseball, soccer, basketball and bowling.
He returned to Will C Wood after his sons graduated to coach freshman football for several years, working on the field, tutoring, helping with fundraisers etc. He loved sports and played for over 30 years on many different teams. He carried the “Buffalo Chips” name with him to bowling (his true love) softball, volleyball, football and basketball, playing well into his 70’s!
When he wasn’t playing sports he was watching it, doing a crossword puzzle or playing bridge with folks at the senior center, in the newspaper or on the computer. Rush was a can do person who brought people together. He was also a man of action, moving slowly, but getting things accomplished.
With friends and family he built two homes in Elmira, which stand today as part of his legacy. He acted on his beliefs, attending many supervisor meetings over the years when issues surfaced. His last battle was to speak to the county asking them to make sensible decisions in their approach to the growing of marijuana so that people were free to grow what they needed, especially for those who needed it for medical reasons.
Very few people know the sum total of all Rush did for the people of Vacaville and Elmira, but his contributions were great. The last year of Rush’s life was a battle to squeeze the most out of his time left. A special thank you to the nurses of Kaiser Oncology who fought for him with humanity and compassion, his doctor who was honest and human, as well as the people he saw twice a week in the lab for blood tests.
Everyone of these people made his journey manageable. A celebration of his life will be held at the Elmira Firehouse, Sunday Jan.
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