Jean Lush, 82, Social Worker Who Did Everything `With Flair'

Jean Lush personified the spirit of her native Australia: earthly wise and Anglicized, with a witty dash of derring-do.

She counseled teenagers and couples for years through CRISTA Ministries. She lectured and wrote books on women's issues.

Yet she called people "Ducky," joked about her imaginary maid, Bridget, and as a girl spent wilding days in the scrub, answering to the bird-name "Robin."

"The way she did everything was with flair," said her daughter Heather Duffy of Gig Harbor.

"My mother had an incredible ability to blend her Christian faith and thirst for knowledge with a delightful sense of humor. Everybody was drawn to her and went away better for knowing her."

Mrs. Lush died of cancer Tuesday, June 4. She was 82.

Known to thousands as a mentor - she had earned a master's degree in social work at the University of Washington - Mrs. Lush was most at home in her kitchen or garden.

"She loved her plants and called them all by their Latin names," her daughter said. "She would smuggle plants - this one rose - across the Canadian border. There was never a dull moment in our household."

As a girl, Mrs. Lush, born in Adelaide, Australia, enjoyed shooting hoops, swimming, playing tennis and running track. She met her husband there, where she attended Adelaide University. They moved to Seattle in the late 1940s after hearing of an opening at King's Garden, a religious center that grew into Shoreline-based

CRISTA Ministries.

She became dorm mother for 45 teenage boarders at King's Garden School. She also worked as one of the first women certified as a marriage counselor in Washington.

She traveled widely to lecture about women's issues, and from 1983 to 1992 wrote three books that led to radio talk-show appearances: "Emotional Phases of a Woman's Life," "Mothers and Sons: Raising Boys To Be Men" and "Women and Stress." The books are available through Christian bookstores.

Twenty years ago, she and her husband Lyall Lush, who died in 1991, built from old materials a pink Tudor home, "Rose Cottage," featured in local magazines.

Her daughter said the home reflected Mrs. Lush's personality: "Carefree and spirited."

Mrs. Lush also is survived by her daughter Robin Denny of Lynnwood; son David Lush of Raymond, Pacific County; sister Elaine Jefferis and brother Frank Hilton, both of Adelaide; nine grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

Services are at 2 p.m. Saturday at North Seattle Alliance Church, 2150 N. 122nd St.

Remembrances may go to CRISTA Nursing Center, Nursing Scholarship Fund, 19303 Fremont Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98133