Anna Mae Bishop

Ann was born in Topeka, Kansas, on October 11, 1931, to John and Leona McNeive. She grew up on a farm in Emmett, Kansas, in a house with no electricity or running water. Because of the distance from the farm to school, she lived with her Aunt "Nannie" in Delia, Kansas during the school year. Aunt Nannie was pivotal in her Catholic education, and Ann was blessed to have two extraordinary women who raised her. She loved both of them immensely.

Ann graduated from Emmett High School in 1949 and immediately began nurse's training at St. Francis Hospital in Topeka, where she graduated in 1952. On the grounds of the hospital was the Motherhouse of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, where she met nuns who, through their teachings and example, stirred within her a much deeper faith. She decided to enter the novitiate in 1952.

For the next six years, Ann was assigned as a hospital nurse in Colorado and then in Kansas City. Through much reflection and prayer, she decided that the religious life was not her calling and she did not take her final vows. In a beautiful letter she kept all of those years, one of the nuns wrote to her, "It was a saving vocation. Who knows what direction your life would have taken those six years out in the world?" Ann later wrote in her life story, "Those years with the sisters cemented my faith in God and carried me along during the darkest and most trying periods of my life.”

After leaving the Sisters of Charity, she worked as a labor and delivery nurse at the old St. Joseph's Hospital in Kansas City, where she made lifelong friends with several other nurses. They started a penny-ante poker club and continued to play cards (bridge) together for the next 50 years! She later left the hospital to work at Hallmark Cards as an industrial nurse. During this time, she decided it would be wise to purchase her own home, and she invited her parents to leave the farm and live with her so she could ensure they were well cared for.

In 1962, Ann saw a sign for a local ballroom dance studio: "Learn to Dance and Put a Little Fun in Your Life." She signed up! She had great chemistry with her dance instructor, Larry Bishop. In fact, they had such great chemistry that they married on February 9, 1963, at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Kansas City. During the next seven years, they welcomed four children. After 16 years of marriage, they divorced, and Ann went on to successfully raise her children on her own while caring for her aging parents, volunteering at St. Matthew's Catholic Church, and working full-time as a nurse at Park Lane Hospital in Raytown, Missouri.

Once retired, Ann devoted herself to her children, grandchildren, longtime friends, and volunteer work with the Little Sisters of the Poor. She modeled a servant's heart to all who knew her, caring for the elderly with dignity and compassion. She was a quilter, a keeper of family stories, an heirloom artist, a genealogist, and a serious Chiefs football fan. She was an original member of the Association of Jeanne Jugan, spending countless hours helping with the sainthood process, and was chosen to travel to Rome for the canonization in 2009.

She leaves behind her children: Robert Bishop; Mary Hall (Scott); Julie Prudden (Tom); and Nancy Vargas (Cesar); twelve grandchildren: Brad Bishop, Ryan Bishop, Alex Hall, Doug Hall, Sean Prudden, Abigail Prudden, Veronica Prudden, Lena Prudden, Patricia Coleman, Kayanna Coleman, Cesar Vargas, and Carlos Vargas; sixteen great-grandchildren; and a multitude of nieces and nephews.

Her unwavering faith, quiet strength, and unconditional love for her family will remain her greatest legacy.

Mass will be held for the family and burial to follow at Holy Cross Cemetery in St. Marys, Kansas. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Little Sisters of the Poor, Raytown, Missouri.