Mary K. Bishop, 88, a longtime resident of Sedro-Woolley died on Thursday, October 16, 2008 at Burton’s Care Center in Burlington after a long battle with leukemia.
She was born in Skiatook, Oklahoma in 1920 and had 1 brother and 2 sisters. Each sibling has preceded her in death.
In 1927 the family moved from Skiatook to San Pedro, California. There, Mary graduated from San Pedro High School in 1938 and went on to graduate from secretarial school. A year later, she met and married a sailor, Gordon Bishop. They were together for 66 years and had 2 children.
Mary had many adventures in her life. During the great depression in the 30’s she and her family experienced many hardships common at that time. As a young navy wife, she saw first hand the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec 7th, 1941 as bombs were dropped less than a block from their apartment in Pearl City. After her husband was quickly sent to sea on a destroyer, Mary worked in Honolulu for 8 months until it was safe for her and other civilians to return to the states. She spent the rest of WWII in San Pedro with her sisters as her husband served in the South Pacific with the Navy. After the war, Mary and Gordon were stationed in San Francisco, Providence, RI and the Great Lakes area. When the Korean War broke out, the family moved back to San Pedro where Mary lived with her young children while Gordon was again at sea. In 1956, the family moved to Guam, her husband’s last duty station before retirement from the Navy. Then, in the late 50’s, to help support the family as her husband studied to become a school teacher, she sold Avon Products door to door. Years later, in 1966 Mary enjoyed the people she met and her experiences as a real-estate agent here in Skagit County.
Mary is survived by her son, Ed Bishop and his wife, Carol of Sedro-Woolley; her daughter, Barbara Bishop of Mount Vernon; granddaughter, Suzy Weiler and her husband, Kyle of Sedro-Woolley; 3 great-grandchildren, Morgan, Shelby and Eleanor. A niece, Helena Parker of Seattle and a brother-in-law, Ray Person of Long Beach, California.
Private family services will be held on Sunday, October 26, 2008 at her home in Sedro-Woolley. The family asks that memorials be made to the Skagit County Humane Society.
Cremation arrangements are under the direction of Lemley Chapel, Sedro-Woolley.