Columba Bush

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Columba Bush

Born August 17, 1953 (1953-08-17) (age 54)
Flag of Mexico León, Guanajuato, Mexico
Occupation former First Lady of Florida
Predecessor Anne Selph
Successor None
Religious beliefs Roman Catholic
Spouse Jeb Bush (1974 - present)
Children George P. Bush, Noelle Bush, Jeb Bush, Jr.
Parents Jose Maria Garnica and Josefina (or Josephina) Gallo

Columba Bush (born August 17, 1953) is the wife of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and the sister-in-law of President George W. Bush.

Bush was born as Columba Garnica Gallo in León, Guanajuato, Mexico, where she grew up and attended high school. Her parents were Jose Maria Garnica, a migrant worker, and Josefina (or Josephina) Gallo. She met Jeb Bush in 1971 in León, where he was teaching English as part of a foreign exchange program. They were married on February 23, 1974, in Austin, Texas.[1] The couple have three children: George P. Bush, Noelle Bush, and Jeb Bush, Jr.

Bush's relationship with her mother was the subject of a brief profile in the book Mamá: Latina Daughters Celebrate Their Mothers by Maria Perez-Brown (ISBN 0-06-008386-7). Her parents divorced in 1963.

[edit] Activism and Organizations

Bush has been active in promoting the arts. In 1999 she worked with Arts for a Complete Education/Florida Alliance for Arts Education (ACE/FAAE) to develop Arts for Life!, a program devoted to increasing the importance of art in the education system. She has also used her experience with her family's substance abuse issues to aid treatment and prevention programs such as the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). She has served as co-chair of the NIAAA initiative, Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free, and has served on the board of the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.

[edit] Customs Infraction

In June of 1999, she failed to declare the proper amount of valuables she had purchased on her trip abroad. She stated that she did not want her husband to know how much she had purchased. (See details in external link):[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Gedda, George. "Bush has hemisphere on brain", Laredo Morning Times, 2001-02-14. Retrieved on 2006-10-21. 
  2. ^ Becker, Jo. "Bush: Wife meant to hide shopping spree from me", St. Petersburg Times, 1999-06-22. Retrieved on 2005-05-27. 
v • d • e
Bush family
Prescott Bush ancestors
Dorothy Walker Bush ancestors
Samuel Prescott Bush (1863–1948) • James Smith Bush (1825–1889) • Obadiah Newcomb Bush
George Herbert Walker (1875–1953) • David Davis Walker (1840–1918) • George E. Walker (1797–1864) • Thomas Walker (1758–1799)
Samuel P. Bush & Flora Sheldon
Prescott Sheldon Bush (m.) Dorothy Wear Walker • Robert Bush • Mary House Bush • Margaret Clement Bush • James Bush
Prescott Bush (1895–1972)
Prescott Bush Jr. • George Herbert Walker Bush (m.) Barbara Pierce • Nancy Bush Ellis • Jonathan James Bush • William Henry Trotter Bush
George H. W. Bush (1924–)
Jonathan Bush (1931–)
George Walker Bush (m.) Laura Lane Welch • Pauline Robinson Bush • Jeb Bush (m.) Columba Garnica Gallo • Neil Mallon Bush (m.) Sharon Smith • Marvin Pierce Bush (m.) Margaret Molster • Dorothy Walker Bush (m. 2nd) Robert P. Koch
Billy Bush (m.) Sydney Davis • Jonathan S. Bush
George W. Bush (1946–)
Jeb Bush (1953–)
Neil Bush (1955–)
See also
The Bush Compound • Buckeye Steel Castings • G. H. Walker & Co. • The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty • Political line