Pauline Churchill Rothenbush
Pauline “Miss Polly” Churchill Rothenbush, 83, passed away peacefully on April 23, 2024, surrounded by her loving family.
Polly was born on March 15, 1941, to Leonard and Sidney Churchill in Little Rock, Arkansas. She grew up in Cotton Plant, Arkansas, and moved with her parents to Ruskin in 1957. She attended Wimauma High School and graduated from East Bay High School in 1959; but she also considered herself a part of the Cotton Plant High School Class of 1959 and enjoyed attending the Cotton Plant High School reunions as often as she could.
Polly attended Florida Southern College and graduated from The University of Tampa with a degree in Elementary Education. Polly had a 41-year-long career of teaching and loving children at Ruskin Elementary School; Ruskin Christian School, which she helped to found; and Apollo Beach Elementary School, where she retired in 2006. She made lasting impacts on her students and remained in contact with many of them long into their adult lives. After retirement, she stayed involved in serving the community and its children through the Ruskin Woman’s Club and the South Shore Chamber of Commerce.
Her faith was the most important part of her life, and she wanted everyone she knew to know the peace and salvation of Jesus. She was a long-time member of First Baptist Church of Ruskin and most recently involved at Wellspring Community Church where she loved to serve and worship God.
Polly was a devoted wife, mother, and grandmother, who loved her family more than anything in the world. She loved sunsets, a good game of cards, taking her family on trips and sneaking out late for a hot fudge sundae.
Polly is survived by her husband of 52 years, Fred Rothenbush; children, Cindi (Ric), Doug (Marlo), Dan (Lisa) and Austin (Mary); grandchildren, Nicole, Tayler (Kevin), Ashlee, Addison, Emily, Caitlyn, Allison, Lauren, Jenna and Madison; great-grandchildren, Macenzie and Lucy; bonus grandchildren, Sam and Katie. She was preceded in death by her parents and her first husband, Harley McGriff.
A Celebration of Life will be held on Friday, May 3rd, at Wellspring Community Church at 705 9th St. SE, Ruskin, FL. A visitation will start at 5:00 p.m., and the service will follow at 6:00 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Ruskin Woman’s Club scholarship/education fund, https://www.gfwcruskinwomansclub.org/donations/ or a charity of your choice.