Bill was born and raised in Lima, OH, the son of Lewis Charles Bishop, Sr. and Virginia Obenour Bishop. He was a particularly bright, precocious, active, and adventurous child, whose sweet appearance masked a rather mischievous side. Those traits led to many memorable activities, events, and achievements, including lots of fishing, hiking, and other outdoor activities; impersonating Tarzan swinging from the trees of Lima; saving the lives of his family at the age of 4 by awakening his mother just in time for her to gather his sleeping siblings and pets and escape the house before it burned down; terrorizing his younger siblings with his many practical jokes; from an early age, befriending every animal he encountered, all of which seemed instinctively drawn to him; blowing the door off the furnace and separating the chimney from the roof in an ill-fated experiment with the use of gunpowder to aid in cleaning the flue of the family home at the age of 13; and earning the rank of Eagle Scout at the age of 15.
After graduating from Lima Central High School in 1954, Bill attended The Ohio State University, U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and Bowling Green State University. He then worked for W.T. Grant Company, moving from city to city to manage W.T. Grant stores in South Carolina and North Carolina. That is what brought him to Winston-Salem, NC in 1965. After ten years with W.T. Grant Company, Bill left retail in 1969 and started a new career in the textile industry, working in various manager positions with Hanes Corporation, L’eggs, and then Sara Lee Hosiery in Winston-Salem until his retirement in 2000. He continued to reside in Winston-Salem during his retirement before moving to Greensboro in 2015.
Bill will be remembered for his intelligence, sense of humor, loyalty, inquisitive mind, good heart, and his love of walking, nature, and animals, especially dogs (of which he had many). He was an avid learner, educating himself about many subjects throughout his life, including geology, astronomy, financial planning, gardening/small scale farming, weaponry, coins, artifacts, Mayan Indians, ancient civilizations, and religion. He completed crossword puzzles in minutes. But above all, he read books - thousands, and thousands, and thousands of books. Bill was a voracious reader.
Bill is survived by his son, Marc D. Bishop (Diane) of Greensboro; grandchildren, Scott and Sarah Bishop; sister, Beverly A. Roberts (Larry) of Columbia, MD; and brothers, Lewis C. Bishop, Jr. (Rita) of Roanoke, VA and Robert T. Bishop of Marion, OH.
The family asks with gratitude that in lieu of flowers, memorials in Bill’s name be made to Friends of the Central Library, 660 W. 5th St., Winston-Salem, NC 27101 (forsyth.cc/library/central/friends.aspx); Forsyth Humane Society, 4881 Country Club Rd., Winston-Salem, NC 27104 (forsythhumane.org); or Dementia Alliance of North Carolina, 9131 Anson Way, Suite 206, Raleigh, NC 27615 (dementianc.org). The family also thanks Heritage Greens and The Elms at Abbotswood for their loving care, patience, and assistance during the last five years of Bill’s life, and Hospice and Palliative Care of Greensboro for how its staff cared for Bill and his family during the last week of Bill’s life.
A private service will be held at Forsyth Memorial Park Mausoleum. Online condolences may be made at www.haneslineberryfhnorthelm.com
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