Alice Bush died suddenly in Auckland in May 1974, at the age of 59. A year before, she had a myocardial infarct which she belittled, and did not allow to interfere with her life. The pain which followed thereafter, and which she knew to be angina, was referred to as indigestion. She came from a stable and supportive home, and enjoyed a very close relationship with her father, Sir Joseph Stanton, who was a respected and humanitarian judge of the Supreme Court.

She was educated at Auckland Diocesan School for Girls, and after a distinguished undergraduate record, graduated from the Otago Medical School in 1937. She passed the Membership examination in 1946, and in England took MRCP and DCH. She was elected FRACP in 1955, and FRCP in 1970. Before her postgraduate training in paediatrics, she developed an interest in allergy which she retained throughout her life, but on her return to Auckland she directed her exceptional energy and talents to the advancement of child health. As a senior physician in paediatric medicine at Auckland's Princess Mary Hospital, she was a very able clinician and an effective teacher to whom students responded with enthusiasm.

From her father, she had learnt about people from all walks of life, had developed her effectiveness in debate and her respect for the truth. She was forthright and incisive, and incapable of humbug or cant. Her interpretation of child health went far beyond hospital medicine. She was deeply committed to the whole field of family and child health, and fearless in promoting the cause with remarkable foresight and concern and without regard for opposition or her own popularity.

She was instrumental in establishing the Princess Mary Hospital for Children alongside, but separate from Auckland Hospital, and she contributed much to the foundation of a strong department of paediatrics in the Auckland Medical School. Dr Bush held office in many organisations concerned with the welfare of family and children. She was a tireless writer and speaker for the cause, and probably best known nationally and internationally for her contribution to family planning in New Zealand, and in the International Planned Parenthood Federation.

The effectiveness of her debate was embellished by her warm, generous and lovable personality, and by her everlasting concern for the individual which was always foremost in her mind. Her hospitable and informal home reflected her personality and the relationship she enjoyed with her husband, Faulkner, and children, Peter and Christine.