Ronald Eugene Bishop was born on a farm in Pocahontas County, on July 13, 1943. He was the tenth (of eleven) child of William Adams Bishop and Edith Triggs Bishop. Having grown up on a farm, Ron decided early on that country life was not for him. He looked at Harvard and then some state schools and soon saw that they weren’t looking his way. Although he didn’t graduate Valedictorian, heck for that matter Salutatorian, he did find a business school in Omaha offering a banking class. It sounded like just the right thing, several of his Storm Lake classmates also chose it. They invited Ron to their apartment warming/painting party a couple days after school started. As you can imagine gallon cans of paint with 12 oz. cans of primer, not a good mix. His school consisted of three classrooms on the second floor of a downtown Omaha drug store and Quedo would meet him at the office door on the first of every month to collect the tuition, hmm. A true lesson in banking, get it first. Well, then the draft board came calling. Ron had been in a bad car accident so they decided they couldn’t use him. In January of 1962, a classmate from school asked Ron to go with him and his girlfriend on a blind date with a friend of theirs, Barbara Lynn Hargens Berka. He did, and she said it was love at first sight. An interesting fact, Ron’s father served in the Army during WWI and Barbara’s father was killed in WWII. After a summer of dating, Ron proposed on Aug. 12, and they married on Aug. 26, 1962. It was a beautiful evening wedding at the St. John Lutheran Church in Dunlap. Their son Michael was born in 1967, and daughter, Melissa in 1979.
The couple loved all sports, but Ron learned early on that he would not qualify for a position on the Olympic swim team, so he took a regular job, served on several boards and committees, and was church treasurer and secretary of his union board. Ron and Barbara enjoyed cookin’ out and eatin’ in. He also did his share of DIY projects including electrical, but after a couple of real shockers, well… (As you can see, a career in doing standup wasn’t meant for him) Ron was so glad that Barbara said yes and when God blessed them with parenthood, they could not have been happier. Ron greatest hope is that he was the best husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, friend or neighbor, if not just let him know and you can get together to fix it!
Ron passed away on June 5, 2023, at the age of 79 years, 10 months and 23 days.
Ronald was preceded in death by his parents, William Adam Bishop (1889-1971) and Ella Edith Triggs Bishop (1903-1975); siblings, Bertha (49), Donald (71), Betty (66), Margaret (69), Rhina (81), William (70), Harris (87) and Wayne (72); granddaughter, Kylee Brinn; niece, Casey Jo; and sister-in-law, Marilyn Berka. Ronald is survived by his beautiful, loving wife, Barbara; son, Michael Bishop and his wife Melissa of Tucson, Ariz.; daughter, Melissa Bishop of Harlan; granddaughter, Logan; grandson, Lincoln; brother, Gerald Bishop and his wife Maryann of Dickens; sister, Joyce Matzdoeff of Arizona; sister-in-law, Marybeth Bishop of Everly; favorite brother-in-law, (ELCA) Pastor James Berka of Dunlap; and many other relatives and friends.
A Memorial Service will be Saturday, June 17 at 11 a.m. at St. John Lutheran Church in Dunlap, with visitation starting at 10 a.m.
