Mary Alice Newton Bishop

Visitation will be in the Fellowship Hall of First United Methodist Church in Dothan on Monday, September 5, 2011, from 1:30 p.m.- 2:15 p.m. A Service of Praise and Thanksgiving will follow at 2:30 p.m. in the church sanctuary with Dr. Lawson Bryan, Dr. James Sanders and The Rev. Allie Freeman officiating and Byrd Funeral Home on West Main Street directing. Her grandchildren will serve as pallbearers. Family members will attend a graveside service. At other times family will gather at 109 Christen Lane.

Mrs. Bishop was born in Dothan, AL, on January 4, 1915, to Annie Houston and Charlie Lawrence Newton. She graduated from Agnes Scott College and married Eustace Emmett Bishop of Atlanta in 1937. They moved to Dothan in 1946 and the following year completed construction of Bishop Cleaners and Laundry which continued in business over sixty years.

Mrs. Bishop was devoted to her family and to First United Methodist Church. She served in many capacities at the church, singing in the choir for fifty years, and was recently elected as an honorary member of the Administrative Board. She was an active lifetime member of the United Methodist Women, having been placed on that roll at Foster Street Methodist Church at birth by her grandmother, Alice Powell Newton. She was a charter member of both the Dothan Service League and of the Young Woman’s Study Club. She loved flowers and spent countless hours working in her yard. She enjoyed entertaining and cooking, meeting with her friends of the “Thursday Luncheon Club” for over sixty years. Music played a prominent role in growing up in the Newton

family, and Mrs. Bishop enjoyed singing in many public performances with her siblings who were affectionately referred to as “the Newton sisters”.

Surviving her are her children: Carole Bishop Lee (William M.), Eustace Emmett “Top” Bishop, Jr. (Sandra), and Julie Newton Bishop; her grandchildren: Juli-Ann Lee Waddell, W. Graham Bishop (Carrie), Jeni M. Lee (Joe Boshears), C. Thomas Lee (Katherine), Davis N. Bishop (Carmen), Jonathan D. Lee (Jennie), Harrison K.

Bishop (Jordan), and Benjamin D. Crow; a sister, Jeanne Newton Battles (Bob); and abrother, Charles L. Newton, Jr. (Helen). Also surviving are 15 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 67 years, Eustace Emmett Bishop, Sr; her parents, Charlie and Annie Newton; a grandson, Stan Richard Beason; and two sisters, Louise Newton Wright and Annie Houston Newton Parkman.

The Bishop family acknowledges the faithful service of her housekeeper of 27 years,Esther Holland, and is extremely grateful for the excellent and loving care she receivedfrom her caregivers, especially those who were with her in her final years: PatriciaJohnson, Kimberly Jones, Mittie Sutton, and Ethel McClendon. The family is also appreciative of the care provided by Covenant Hospice, Wiregrass Caregivers, and the staff at The Terrace.

In lieu of flowers memorial gifts may be made to the Mary Bishop Endowment at Dothan Botanical Gardens, 5130 Headland Avenue, Dothan, AL 36303; The Bishop Family Trust at Dothan Landmarks Foundation, Box 6362, Dothan, AL 36302; First United Methodist Church, 1380 W. Main Street, Dothan, AL 36301; or to a favorite charity.

Byrd Funeral Home on West Main Street is in charge of arrangements.