Isabella P. (Podgorski) Jancourtz

Isabella P. (Podgorski) Jancourtz of Weston passed away on January 20, 2025 peacefully in her sleep. She was born on October 19, 1946 in Trani, Italy to the late Leopold and Anna (Bosancic) Podgorski. Beloved wife of the late Samuel D. Bush, IV. Devoted mother of Joshua Jancourtz and his wife Holly Kempner of Westfield, NJ. Loving grandmother of Benjamin an Garrett Jancourtz. Sister of the late Shirley Podgorski-McPhail.
Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend a Memorial Service at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, 320 Boston Post Road, Weston on Saturday, May 31st at 11am. For guest book please visit www.lehmanreen.com
Born in Italy after World War II in a displaced person’s camp, Isabel soon moved with her family to England. She lived there until age 10, when her family voyaged across the Atlantic on the
Queen Mary and settled in Woonsocket, RI. She attended Boston University and Boston University Law School, briefly working for a local law firm before striking out her own as a family lawyer and publishing the The Massachusetts Woman's Divorce Handbook.
Making her home in Weston in 1973, Isabel was always an active citizen, pioneering many lasting initiatives. She helped found the Children’s Center of Weston in 1974. She advocated for the Mass Central Rail Trail in 1997, when it was initially derailed by a Weston town meeting vote. In 2022 she spoke at a town meeting in favor of an article to build pickleball courts in Weston, which got approval.
Isabel was a frequent letter writer to the Weston Town Crier and contributed as a guest columnist in 2008 with Ending the losing

‘War on Drugs’. She mourned the paper's demise in 2022, and participated in efforts to resurrect local newspapers. Over the years, Isabel supported numerous Democratic candidates locally and nationally, and attended many demonstrations for peace, the environment, and social justice. In 2014, Isabel produced the video We Were There: 1963 March on Washington for the Weston Media Center, interviewing participants of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
Throughout her life Isabel had many circles of friends in the arts: poets, writers, musicians, and artists. She was an avid researcher of historical subjects such as Isabella Stewart Gardner, Boston Mayor James Michael Curley, and Dr. William Sturgis Bigelow. With an insatiable love of live music, Isabel frequented local clubs and rock concerts until the end of her life.
She mourned the loss of her guitar playing husband, Sam Bush, four years ago, and looked forward to being reunited with him.

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