Donald Edward Bishop

Bishop was born in Seattle on April 19, 1935 to Ralph and Ruth Bishop who lived on Haller Lake. As a child, he would join his sister Patsy and brother Ralph Jr. (Sonny) as Ruth would take the children on bus ride down to KJR Radio Studios where the older children were regular singers on Uncle Frank’s Children Hour radio program. In 1939 “Little Donnie” made his singing debut on the program. His singing career was derailed by a mysterious health ailment that was so serious the doctors sent him home and told his mother “make him comfortable,” it’s only a matter of time. Fan mail from his radio listeners helped inspire him to a full recovery.

As a teen, he used earnings from several part time jobs to pay for flying lessons in a seaplane at Kenmore Air. Later, after receiving his pilot’s license, he would own his own small Cessna and he was part of a group of community members who helped to establish the airstrip at Morton.

A life-long love of cars and racing began in 1949 when he won the award for the fastest speed during the Apple Box races during Holman Road. He graduated from Lincoln High School in 1953 where he was an admittedly average student. “I wasn’t too good but I wasn’t that bad. The problem is my brother and sister were always top of their class. Teachers were always asking if I was really Ralph’s brother.”

A member of the Ramblers hot rod club, his 1934 Ford pickup was twice featured on the cover of Hot Rod magazine and also graced the cover of the 1956 Seafair Autorama program.

In 1961 while working at auto parts distributor Fremont Electric, a friend from the Coast Guard Reserves, Bill “No-Profit Moffet” asked Bishop to come work for him in Morton. “I told him I wouldn’t work for him but if he could find a way for me to buy in, I’d like to be his partner.” The result was a business partnership that lasted nearly 30 years. Morton Supply & Equipment sold auto parts, dynamite, motorcycles, jet skis, sailboats and snowmobiles. To help sell sailboats he formed a sailing group which held regattas on Mayfield Lake and he was a member of the Lewis County Drift Skippers snowmobile club and helped organize many snowmobile trips to Eastern Washington and Idaho.

In 1962 Bishop lived above the store and rented out a trailer home across the back parking lot to a first-year speech therapist from Minnesota. An attentive landlord, he regularly checked in on the renter and on August 8, 1964 he married Ethelyn Gilman in Marble, Minnesota.

Twice president of the Morton Chamber of Commerce, Bishop and his wife created a Snoopy costume he would wear in the Jubilee Parade for years to help promote his business. The character was so popular he began appearing during event changeovers in the Logger’s Jubilee Arena show where he would jump an ATV into the log rolling pond and soak spectators in the first few rows. Jubilee announcers dubbed him “Snoopy” Bishop and the nickname stuck. Bishop was the last of the “Four Dons,” Gayman, Rowe and Whiteside who spearheaded the construction of the town’s Jubilee Parade Float for many years.

A participant in the first-ever Jubilee lawnmower drag race down main street with good friend Dana Wolfe and the VanCleves, he raced every Jubilee until he finally retired at age 71, sometimes competing against all three of his sons.

An avid winter sportsman, he enjoyed ski and snowmobile vacations, spending time at the family campsite in Ocean Park, working on his hot rod panel and cross country drives in the family’s “Yellow Bus,” a St. Regis crummy he customized into a motorhome.

In retirement, he remained active in the Chamber of Commerce, served on the Hospital Foundation and was Chairman of the Finance committee for the Morton United Methodist Church. He was instrumental in the creation of the Morton Teen Center, a life-long dream. He loved the town of Morton and the opportunities it provided him and he continued to contribute however he could until his last days.

He is survived by his wife, Lynn of Morton, sister Pat (Bob) Watson, Sister-in-Law Patty Bishop and sons David (Jinyi) and Ted (Deanna) of Seattle and Andy of Helotes, Texas, exchange student sons German (Lily) Rodriguez of Sammamish and Oscar (Isabelle) Rodriguez of Ensenada, Mexico and six grandchildren, Annika, Ben, Magnus, Tor, Brooks and Miles.

A memorial service will be held at Morton United Methodist Church at 1:00 PM on Wednesday, April 19th, 2017, with a reception to follow at the Bob Lyle Community Center.

Donations can be made to the Morton Teen Center, Hospital Foundation, Husky Scholarship Fund or Morton United Methodist Church.