Donald Vincent Bishop, 82, a resident of Silver Cliff, passed away on Tuesday, December 28, 2021.
He was born in Logan, New Mexico on December 29, 1938, to Kenneth and Mildred Bishop. He is preceded in death by his parents, sister Ana Lee (Ed) Gonyou, brother Ken E. Bishop, and wife Phyllis Bishop. He married Phyllis “Miss Barrett” on June 19, 1964. They shared 55 years together in marriage and knew how to make those years count. He is survived by his sister-in-law Marge Bishop, two children, Monique (Marek) Mikula and Vincent (Amy) Bishop and three grandchildren Blake, Spencer and Cece. He has many nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews.
Known as Donnie in his youth, he first lived on a big ranch in New Mexico. The Bishops moved to Coaldale, Colorado, where he began his long love of the Rocky Mountains and in particular the Sangre de Cristo mountains and all they have to offer: nature, fishing, hiking, skiing and camping. His dad and mom soon decided to get back to a larger ranch in Burlington, Colorado, where he lived until the 1980s. From the beginning he was a farmer at heart. In elementary school he grew radishes, sold and delivered them to customers by little red wagon.
He graduated from Burlington High School where he was involved with honor choir, track and swimming as a lifeguard. He was unexpectedly surprised to be awarded the Bausch and Lomb science award and was excited to hear that his grandson Blake received the same honor. Don attended one year at Colorado State University in agricultural science. He decided he knew what he wanted to do with the ranch and farm, so he returned to Bishop Ranch for more than 20 years. He served in the Army National Guard and was in officer’s candidate school. He and his brother Ken who owned Burlington Building and Supply built houses together. Brother Ken was like his second dad and he said Donnie, electricians are few and far between, why don’t you get your license. He said alright and became the youngest master electrician in Colorado at the time.
Recently talking about Bishop Ranch, we asked if his dad farmed. Don responded, “No, Dad never wanted to turn dirt.” He loved the farm and animals and raised registered black Angus cattle and ran a sanitary hog operation for over 300 head of hogs, as well as dry land farmed many sections of land mostly for feed. In the 1980s he was honored as a young farmer for water conservation.
Life changed for the better when a new church choir director and music teacher moved to town from Oklahoma. A friend and church board member advised Don that he better fix up and be at choir practice, because the church had just hired a new choir director and she was cute. This began their lifetime love story. He asked Miss Phyllis Barrett out for a coke and a movie and within one month they were engaged with the agreement that he would build Phyllis a home on the farm. One of several that he built her in their life together.
In the late 1970s as a family, Don, Phyllis, kids and friends built the Gothic Arch cabin and placed it on the foundation over a Memorial weekend in Westcliffe, Colorado. People that had been gone over the weekend thought it had been flown in. When farming got more difficult to make a profit and the mantra was “Get bigger or get out,” Don and Phyllis fulfilled Don’s lifetime dream of living in the Sangre de Cristo mountains and Westcliffe to try and make a living.
Don and Phyllis were active in the communities they lived in even when they were on the road. They were very active musicians and members of the United Methodist Church in Burlington, Colorado, and the Community United Methodist Church in Westcliffe, Colorado. Don and Phyllis sang with friends and their children Monique and Vince for many weddings, anniversaries and clubs through the years. Some of their favorite songs were by Peter, Paul and Mary, John Denver, Roger Whittaker and American folk love songs. One of Don’s best and favorite solos was “Danny Boy”.
Don was a member of Lion’s Club in Burlington, Rotary Club in both cities, Kit Carson County Commissioner in the 1970’s, Burlington High School Alumni President, evening DJ for KNAB Radio with Phyllis, Neighborhood Player in theater in Burlington, Westcliffe Center for the Performing Arts actor where he played one of his favorite parts as the lead Norman in “On Golden Pond”. He began the Westcliffe Inn motel business, was past President of the Royal Gorge Association of Realtors, an All Aboard Westcliffe Board member and Silver Cliff Trustee. He got his small plane pilot’s license and enjoyed flying the family to see the southern relatives. He also enjoyed building remote control airplanes and flying them and liked flying a double string kite on the beaches of California.
Don’s master electrician license came in handy when they had to change gears from the Westcliffe Inn. They went on the road as he was a project manager and electrician in computer robotics for manufacturing facilities. They got to make more friends all over the United States and had fun seeing it riding their tandem bicycle and golfing. They lived in Alabama, California, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Georgia and loved it.
Happily, they finally got to return to Westcliffe and enjoy the
Sangre’s again. They toured around to Airstream rallies camping, frequenting hot springs, exploring the southwest, socializing, joke telling, storytelling, geology researching and general solving problems of the world.
When looking in Daddy Don’s wallet, we discovered a newspaper clipping that he carried with his photos of all the family that summarized how we think he looked at and lived life. The newspaper clipping read as follows: “The Quality of Courage” W. Michael Blumenthal, chairman of Unisys, talks about the mistakes made in hiring: In choosing people for top positions you have to try to make sure they have a clear sense of what is right and wrong, a willingness to be truthful, the courage to say what they think and do what they think is right even if the politics militate against that. This is the quality that should really be at the top. I was too often impressed by the intelligence and substantive knowledge of an individual and did not always pay enough attention to the question of how honest, courageous and good a person the individual really was.
Faith in God, Family, Friends, Fellowship, Patriotism, the Wet Mountain Valley and the Sangre de Cristo mountains were Don and Phyllis’s joy.
Donald, your life was a blessing, your memory a treasure, you are loved beyond words and missed beyond measure. May God grant you eternal peace in heaven.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Community United Methodist Church, Westcliffe, CO and/or Westcliffe Center for the Performing Arts, Westcliffe, CO.
