Tush Augustin Metcalf

Tush Augustin Metcalf passed away Tuesday, the 19th, in the 102nd September of her long and joyful life.  She loved cars and cats and planes and dancing.  But most of all, she loved people, and people loved her back.

Working 33 happy years for Reynolds Aluminum as a beloved secretary to fourteen engineers was how she paid the bills.  Retirement didn’t sit well with Tush, so she went to work as a Unit Secretary of the Pediatric ER at Saint Mary’s Bon Secours Hospital in her hometown, Richmond, Virginia.  She spent the next thirty-five years there giving her incredible energy to the doctors and staff whom she held in such high regard.

But if you asked her what work she was most proud of, we know what she would say.  In 1971, Tush spearheaded the TeleCare program, first at Hanover Avenue Church and finally at 7th Street Christian Church in Richmond, Virginia.  The women and men who volunteered with Tush at TeleCare ensured that every elderly or shut in person enrolled would receive one welfare call each day.  If no one picked up, help was dispatched. This was a lifesaving and comforting labor of love for which Tush is remembered fondly, and she continued to work there until she moved to Brentwood, Tennessee to live with her daughter in 1998.

Her children will tell you that she walked every 10K, played the drums, loved cars with a rumble seat, flew a small plane, and once ran to the beach to watch Amelia Earhart fly overhead. She skipped lunches to save money for her children to see picture shows on the weekend. She cared for stray cats and usually just adopted them. She was a loving mother and an adventurous spirit.  May she rest forever in peace.

She is survived by two children, Jon Robert (Brenda) Armstrong, and Loyis Jeanne Armstrong (Denver, deceased) Horton and their children, Kimberly (Barry) Hairfield, Robin (Dave) Hagen, Chip (Jodi) Horton, and six great grandchildren.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Irvin Metcalf to whom she was married forty years, grandchild, Jon R. Armstrong, Jr., and sister, Kathrine Klaus.

Her memorial service is to be announced. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to PAL (Prevent a Litter), 3421 W Cary Street, Richmond, VA 23221. Heritage Funeral Home in Columbia, TN is assisting the family with arrangements.