Columba Bush
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Columba Bush (née Garnica Gallo; ; born August 17, 1953) is a
Mexican-American Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexica ...
philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
. As the wife of former
Florida Governor The governor of Florida is the head of government of the state of Florida and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Florida ...
Jeb Bush John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. Bush, who grew up in Houston, was the second son of former President George H. W. Bush a ...
, she served as the
First Lady of Florida The first lady of Florida is the title held by the hostess of the Florida Governor's Mansion, usually the spouse of the governor of Florida, concurrent with the governor's term in office. Casey DeSantis is the current first lady of Florida, ass ...
from 1999 to 2007.


Early life

Columba Garnica Gallo was born in the community of Arperos, in the city of
León, Guanajuato () , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Political divisions of Mexico, State , subdivision_name1 = , establishe ...
,
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, the daughter of José María Garnica Rodríguez (1925–2013), a
migrant worker A migrant worker is a person who Human migration, migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant worker ...
and waiter from Arperos, Guanajuato, and Josefina Gallo Esquivel (born 1920), from León, who were married in February 1949. Columba's father emigrated to the United States in 1956 when she was 3 years old and her parents divorced in 1963. Following the departure of her father, Columba and her mother remained in León. Garnica attended Instituto Antonia Mayllen, a private
Catholic school Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...
in the historic center of León. She met
Jeb Bush John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. Bush, who grew up in Houston, was the second son of former President George H. W. Bush a ...
in 1970 in León when she was 16 years old and he was 17. Bush was teaching
English as a second language English as a second or foreign language is the use of English by speakers with different native languages. Language education for people learning English may be known as English as a second language (ESL), English as a foreign language (EF ...
and assisting in the building of a school in the small nearby village of Ibarrilla as part of a class at
Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia * Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Ando ...
called ''Man and Society''. Garnica and Bush married on February 23, 1974, in
Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...
at the chapel in the Catholic student center on the campus of the
University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
. At the time of the wedding, she did not yet speak English fluently and a part of the wedding ceremony was conducted in Spanish.


Politics

In 1988, she appeared in a
Spanish-language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...
campaign commercial for her father-in-law,
George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
, in his campaign for President and she presented a nominating speech for him, also in Spanish, at the
Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...
in
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster.
; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
. But, for the most part, she tends to be uninvolved in politics. As First Lady of Florida, Bush advocated for Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the
Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse Partnership to End Addiction, first known as the Partnership for a Drug-Free America (PDFA) then later as the Partnership at DrugFree.org, and The Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, is a New York City-based non-profit organization which runs campaig ...
, and Arts for Life, a group that gives scholarships to young artists. Columba 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 create ''Arts for Life!'', a program devoted to increasing the importance of art in the education system. As First Lady she put together various art exhibitions focusing on
Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarr ...
,
Diego Rivera Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, known as Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957), was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the ...
, and
Frida Kahlo Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón (; 6 July 1907 – 13 July 1954) was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by the country's popular culture, ...
, and Florida artists. Bush has been active in programs to warn young people of the dangers of drug abuse. She has worked on treatment and prevention programs such as the
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), as part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, supports and conducts biomedical and behavioural research on the causes, consequences, treatment, and prevention of alcoholism and ...
(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 Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
. As First Lady, she visited shelters, studied reports on addiction in adolescence, put together exhibitions, and connected donors with charities. In 2003, as First Lady of Florida, Bush was part of a delegation to
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
to celebrate John Paul II's 25th anniversary as
Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
, at
St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...
. Bush used her platform to become an advocate on issues like domestic violence, substance abuse, and the arts, and she has been involved with organizations that advocate substance abuse treatment and prevention. During her husband's 2016 presidential election campaign, Bush visited women's shelters in Iowa and New Hampshire.


Personal life

Columba has been known to be quiet and reserved, and before marrying Jeb Bush, she had wanted to live a quiet life. Bush and her husband reside in
Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Coral Gables is known globally as home to the ...
. Columba Bush's relationship with her mother was the subject of a brief profile in the book ''Mamá: Latina Daughters Celebrate Their Mothers'' by María Pérez-Brown. Her sister, Lucila del Carmen Schmitz (born October 1951), and her mother live near her in the
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
area. The couple has three children: George Prescott Bush (born April 24, 1976, in
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
), Noelle Lucila Bush (born July 26, 1977, in Texas), and John Ellis "Jeb" Bush Jr. (born December 13, 1983, in Miami). Their eldest son, George, went to
Gulliver Preparatory School Gulliver Preparatory School or simply Gulliver Prep, is a private co-educational school. Its management offices are in Kendall, a census-designated place in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Its four campuses are across the county. Previously the ad ...
, studied at
Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...
, and earned a
Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
degree from the
University of Texas School of Law The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the law school of the University of Texas at Austin. Texas Law is consistently ranked as one of the top law schools in the United States and is highly selective—registering the 8th lowest ac ...
. He is an attorney, U.S. Navy Reserve officer,
real estate investor Real estate investing involves the purchase, management and sale or rental of real estate for profit. Someone who actively or passively invests in real estate is called a real estate entrepreneur or a real estate investor. Some investors actively ...
, and politician, who serves as the Commissioner of the
Texas General Land Office The Texas General Land Office (GLO) is a state agency of the U.S. state of Texas, responsible for managing lands and mineral rights properties that are owned by the state. The GLO also manages and contributes to the state's Permanent School Fund. T ...
.Associated Press
George P. Bush starts small, shuns idea his name, Hispanic heritage can save GOP in Texas
''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', July 20, 2013.
In addition to her three children, Columba Bush has four grandchildren: two by George P. and two by Jeb Jr. Columba Bush has two older brothers, including Francisco Jose Garnica (born December 1949), who currently lives in
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico Puerto Vallarta ( or simply Vallarta) is a Mexican beach resort city situated on the Pacific Ocean's Bahía de Banderas in the Mexican state of Jalisco. Puerto Vallarta is the second largest urban agglomeration in the state after the Guadalaja ...
, and a sister, Lucila del Carmen Garnica Gallo (born in 1951). A practicing
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
, she is a member of
Regnum Christi Regnum Christi, officially the Regnum Christi Federation (Latin: Regnum Christi Foederationis) is an international Catholic Federation. It is open to all lay Catholics and in addition has three consecrated branches, the Legion of Christ (seminaria ...
. In 2007, with her husband Jeb, she attended the Regnum Christi Family Convention in
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
.


References


Further reading

* Parga, Beatriz (2004). ''Columba Bush'', Grijalbo, . * Perez-Brown, Maria (2003). ''Mama: Latina Daughters Celebrate Their Mothers'', Rayo, .


External links


Genealogy of Columba Garnica Gallo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bush, Columba 1953 births 20th-century American women 21st-century American women 21st-century American philanthropists American politicians of Mexican descent Hispanic and Latino American women in politics Bush family First Ladies and Gentlemen of Florida Florida Republicans Living people Mexican emigrants to the United States Mexican philanthropists Mexican Roman Catholics Naturalized citizens of the United States People from León, Guanajuato People from Coral Gables, Florida Catholics from Florida 21st-century women philanthropists Latino conservatism in the United States