M.D. George A. Bishop

George was born in La Crosse, Wis., on Oct. 22, 1932, to Albert and Ida Bishop. He was welcomed into the arms of our loving Father on Saturday, May 16, 2009. George attended parochial schools in La Crosse and graduated from Campion Jesuit High School in Prairie du Chien, Wis., in 1950. He earned his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Notre Dame in 1954 and his medical degree from The Medical College of Wisconsin, formerly Marquette Medical School. George completed his internship at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville, Tenn., and completed his residency training in psychiatry at Tulane University Medical School. George served as a captain in the U.S. Air Force. During the 1960s and early 1970s, George pioneered modern treatments for the mentally ill at East Louisiana State Hospital (ELSH) in Jackson. He was an associate professor of psychiatry and conducted research with the Tulane Department of Psychiatry. It was under his guidance that segregation at ELSH ended and racially integrated treatment programs began. When George and his family moved to Baton Rouge, he worked with the Department of Health and Human Services (DHH), where he served in various capacities as assistant director of Mental Health for Substance Abuse, assistant commissioner of the Office of Mental Health and as medical director at Greenwell Springs Hospital when it was changed to a mental health facility and received its first accreditation. He retired in 1998 as medical director for the Capital Area Human Services District. George also served as the consulting psychiatrist at the Louisiana Training Institute, Elayn Hunt Correctional Facility and the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison. After his retirement, he was a consultant to evaluate delivery of mental health services to prisoners. He continued to work at the Baton Rouge Mental Health Clinic on a part-time basis until July 2008. He was active in the Louisiana Psychiatric Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association (APA). He was made a Distinguished Life Fellow of the APA in 2003. The care and treatment of the most underserved and disenfranchised members of our community was his mission and passion. He ensured that all his patients, no matter their station in life, received the best possible treatment. George was an active member at St. Aloysius Parish for more than 36 years during which time he served with the RCIA program, the church choir and as a Eucharistic minister. He belonged to Group 34 at Manresa Retreat Center, where he participated in an annual retreat for more than 40 years. For many years, George and a group of friends served and shared a monthly meal at the Bishop Ott Shelter. Music and singing were his lifelong interests. He sang with the Notre Dame Glee Club, Marquette Medical School Glee Club and the Baton Rouge Chorus. He was a "George of all trades" repairing what others thought irreparable. He loved picnics, camping, boating, gardening, traveling the world, telling stories and most importantly spending time with family and friends. George suffered a fatal heart attack and is survived by his devoted and loving wife of 50 years, Kathy; their six children and 14 grandchildren: Brent and Fran Edwards and daughters, Emily and Madeline, Augusta, Ga., George Bishop Jr., Tokyo, Japan, Mike and Mary Hall and children, Nick and Katie, Raleigh, N.C., Tom and Margaret Baier and sons, Zachary, Jeremy and Peter, New Orleans, Tom and Marina Bishop and children, Alex, Michael, Carmen and Josie, New Orleans, and John and Ainsley Bishop and sons, Joshua, Ben and Noah, Baton Rouge. He is also survived by his sister, Joyce McGee; nieces, Sally McGee and Paula Tate; and a nephew, Jay McGee. Pallbearers will be Tom Baier, Brent Edwards, Mike Hall, Nick Hall, William Holden, Harold Menard, Cary Bahlinger and Jay McGee. Visitation and rosary at St. Aloysius Church, 2025 Stuart Ave., on Friday, May 22, was from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Visitation continues at the church on Saturday, May 23, from 12:30 p.m. until a funeral Mass of Resurrection at 1:30 p.m. Memorials in George's name may be made to the Bishop-Connor scholarship fund at St. Aloysius School, Manresa Retreat Center or St. Vincent de Paul.