Grandpa Bishop

My Grandpa passed away last week and his funeral is today- I wish I could have been able to go.  While we were never close I have taken time the last few days to reminiscence about some of the good memories I have with him.
*I'm pretty sure I caught my first fish with his help and he was so proud of me, I thought it was gross but he was so excited.
*I liked going to their house when I was little and seeing pictures of my Dad- it was from him I learned my Dad was a long-haired surfer who also read the encyclopedia when he got bored (my Dad is a man of so many talents because of him!).
*One of the funniest times I had with him was when we were out at BYU- Rachel and Shaun, Mike and Vanessa, and Chris and I went up and had dinner with our grandparents, the night ended with us trying out all of their Peruvian clothing (he was a mission president there in the 70's).  Vanessa and I were both pregnant and it was hilarious watching us all try to fit into the tiny clothes.
*Whenever we left their house in college they would take us down to their food storage area and tell us to take anything- I would always protest but Grandma and Grandpa Bishop would start grabbing things and sticking them in bags...we always left with lots of food, toilet paper, paper towels, and cleaning supplies.
*He was instrumental in getting the TESOL program up and running at BYU. Many of my teaching professors knew him and had many wonderful things to say about his work there and how important his work was.

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 You can read his obituary here.

Russell Harold Bishop, 80, passed away peacefully in his sleep on Wednesday, July 13, 2011 at his home in American Fork, Utah.

He was born in Murray, Utah on October 10, 1930, the second of two children born to Margaret Forbush and Matthew Bishop. He spent most of his childhood in Midvale, Utah.

He served as a Captain in the United States Army.

He received his B.A. and Masters Degrees from the University of Utah, and PhD from the University of Oregon in 1966.

He served three missions for the LDS church; in Mexico from 1950-1952, in Peru from 1974-77 and in Arizona from 2002-03. 

He was a teacher by profession, and taught at Brigham Young University, Jordan and Alpine School Districts. He retired as a Spanish teacher from Canyon View Junior High School in 1996. He loved the Spanish people and spent many years working with migrant workers, signing up their children for school. He was known for his outgoing and friendly nature and seemed to know people everywhere he went.

He was an avid fisherman and loved the time spent in Uintah Mountains with his family. His office is filled with fishing memorabilia and gospel literature. He loved the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and doing temple and family history work.

He is survived by his wife Claudia and 9 children: Giana (James) Nielsen, Lori (Michael) Seage, David (Sandy)Bishop, Sherry (John) Alius, Danny Brock, Leslie (Aaron) Boyce, Scott (Angie) Bishop, Brett (Erin) Bishop, and Jon (Hollie) Bishop. He has 32 grandchildren, and 12 great grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his first wife Deon, his parents and his sister Shirley Ferrin.

Our relationship was not perfect; I'm sad we no longer have the opportunity to fix it here in this life and be the family I know we all wanted to be, but I know that through the Atonement we can all, myself included, be forgiven of the mistakes we've made and live forever as an eternal family.