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Laurene (Rush) Gill, a resident of Madison for the last 22 years, passed away Dec. 20, 2020, at her home surrounded by her loving family.

Laurene was the wife of William Gill, Jr. She was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey on Sept. 16, 1957, the daughter of Gerard Rush and the late Katherine (King) Rush. She was the loving mother of Ryan and Grace Gill and a stepmom to William Gill III of Killingworth and Kevin Gill of Coventry, Rhode Island. She is also survived by three grandchildren, Conor, Morgan, and Jackson; sisters Maureen Bland and Christen Rush of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Susan Rush of Phoenix, Arizona; and her brothers Gerard Rush of Montgomery, Texas, John Rush of Phoenix, Arizona, and Steven Rush of Bradford-on-Avon in the UK. She is predeceased by her brother Laurence (Duke) Rush.

Laurene always struggled with the question, “Where are you from?” because the family was on the move quite a bit following her dad up the corporate ladder at Black and Decker. There were stops in Queens and Long Island, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and California. The family settled for a while in Maryland where Laurene attended high school and ran track with the high hurdles being her strongest event. She was quite successful earning many medals along the way.

Laurene graduated from Penn State University with a finance degree and received her MBA from the University of Connecticut. She moved to Connecticut to join Pratt & Whitney as part of UTC’s financial leadership program. That was followed by stints at DNE Technologies in Wallingford, General Datacom in Middlebury, and Sprint in Wallingford, where she was director of finance. She then assumed the most challenging role of all as a stay-at-home mom before returning to the work force as a paraprofessional at Guilford High School. Teaching was actually Laurene’s first career choice. The impact she had, from doing what she loved when combined with the energy and dedication she displayed throughout her career, was amazing

Laurene was a wonderful mom always prioritizing her children no matter the challenges she faced. The bond she created with them was extraordinary. Her home was also a second home for all of Ryan and Grace’s friends. She was beautiful, classy, smart, thoughtful, personable, and funny and made friends effortlessly and in bunches. The party began when Laurene arrived, even though she was often the first to leave. There was never anyone truer to herself and more comfortable in her own skin, and no one braver and more courageous as she battled to the end.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, a memorial service will be planned when we can all celebrate her special life together safely. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Multiple Myeloma Foundation, 383 Main Avenue 5th Floor, Norwalk, CT 06851 or www.themmrf.org.

To share a memory or leave a message of condolence for the family, please visit www.GuilfordFuneralHome.com.