Bruce Bishop

Born August 24th 1923 in Bensenville, Illinois, died November 6th 2020 in Clearwater, Florida. Bruce lived a long and extraordinary life, and died peacefully of natural causes. He loved his God, his family, his country, and his state. He served all with faith and distinction. He was the son of Edward "Biddy" Bishop and Helen (nee Landmier) Bishop, and was born the second in a family of four children. He was raised in the Northwoods of Wisconsin in a loving home in Tomahawk, and learned early from his parents the lessons of hard work, discipline, faith, and the importance of family. Bruce's dad introduced him to hunting and fishing in the woods and rivers surrounding Tomahawk and he spent many joyous days at deer camps and trout streams. Bruce attended Tomahawk High School, graduating in the class of 1942, and was a member of the boxing team. Upon graduation Bruce began a long and distinguished military career, immediately volunteering to serve in the United States Army. He volunteered for Airborne School, and obtained his jump wings, but shortly thereafter broke an ankle during a night training jump. He was sent to a "straight leg" infantry regiment and, seeking combat, eventually joined the Americal Division in the Pacific Theatre. He made two combat beachheads in the Philippines, and was decorated with the Bronze Star with V clasp for valor, the Combat Infantry Badge, and Parachute Badge amongst other awards. He was preparing for beach landings in Japan when the Imperial Japanese surrendered. He served in the Army of Occupation of Japan for seven months. He returned home, and in 1946 was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Wisconsin Army National Guard. He then began a long career as a Citizen Soldier. In 1947 he joined the Wisconsin State Patrol. Within a few years he became the youngest captain and district commander in the Patrol, and then the youngest Major in the history of the Patrol, serving as Field Force Commander. During the same period he continued to serve as an officer in the Guard, spending time as needed on active duty for training and the needs of the service. He is one of the few individuals to command a company in three combat branches of the Army: serving as an infantry company commander, commanding a troop of armor (his command tank is on display at Memorial Park in Tomahawk) and then as an artillery battery commander. He also helped create and served as Assistant Commandant of the Wisconsin Military Academy, training generations of young Guard officers. He retired at the rank of Major. In 1952 Bruce fell in love with the woman he always described as the most beautiful he had ever seen, Patricia Ann Kelley, also of Tomahawk. They married in 1953, and she became his partner and ally in an amazing, loving, and adventurous life together. They were blessed with five children: Bruce Jr. (Brie), Mary Pat, Kathleen (Kenny) Myers, Kelley (Rob), and Tommy (Lizzie). Bruce was an avid sportsman. He was a great shot, a skilled deer and bird hunter, and a great and patient fisherman. He joyfully passed these same enthusiasms and skills on to his sons. He rarely left the blind, field, or boat without taking in the landscape and the sky and giving thanks to "a God good enough to make all this." His exemplary work on behalf of his state and nation gained the attention of Wisconsin's Republican Governor, Warren Knowles. Gov. Knowles asked Bruce to serve as Wisconsin's State Director of Civil Defense, combining his knowledge and experience in military affairs and the protection of civilian populations in times of crisis. After serving with distinction in this role, Governor Knowles asked Bruce to join his team as Executive Assistant and Chief of Staff to the Governor. After the Governor's last term, the Nixon administration appointed Bruce as Regional Director of Civil Defense for the midwestern United States. Bruce served in this role for seven years, before accepting appointment as FEMA liaison and advisor to the Commander in Chief of Readiness Command, a predecessor to Central Command, at MacDill Airforce Base in Tampa, Florida. Bruce and Pat relocated to a place on the Gulf of Mexico in Belleair Beach, Florida. They would enjoy 43 years of sunsets, cocktails, long walks on the beach, and warm Florida sunshine. Bruce and Pat also designed and built a family lake house on Half Moon Lake near Tomahawk in 1967. Here they enjoyed family and friends during the warm months from the 1960s through the present. Bruce retired from Federal service in 1985, having achieved the rank of GS-16, the civilian equivalent to the military rank of major general. At the recommendation of the CINC-REDCOM the Secretary of Defense awarded Bruce the Defense Department Distinguished Service Medal for his extraordinary service to his nation. Retirement did not mean any slowdown for Bruce and Pat. They traveled the world many times over, and Bruce worked hard at developing family timberland on Lake Killarney in Oneida County, Wisconsin into lakefront lots. He also worked hard on his golf game in Clearwater and at Inshalla Country Club in Tomahawk. Bruce played nearly daily in the early morning, frequently shooting his age, until a few weeks before his death. Bruce and Pat also enjoyed many visits to the lake and the beach from their children and grandchildren. Bruce also served as a lector and Eucharistic minister at St. Brendan's Catholic Parish in Clearwater, and St. Mary's Catholic Parish in Tomahawk. Always proud of his family's pioneer stock in Lincoln County, Bruce helped start, and contributed many of the pieces for, the Tomahawk Historical Society Museum. He also was a founder and president of the Wisconsin State Patrol Alumni Association. Bruce was a devout Roman Catholic. As often as practical he was a daily communicant, and prayed the Rosary often whether on the golf course, in the hunting blind, or on a morning run. He had a simple, practical, and profound faith, and the topic of the approach of death usually brought a twinkle in his eye, and a discussion about what the next adventure might really be like. Bruce was predeceased by his brothers, Edward and Jimmy, and is survived by his little sister Lois, and by the great love of his life, true partner, and wife of 67 years, Pat, his five children, 11 grandchildren (Meghan Myers, Rachel Urban, Katherine Myers, Jesten Myers, Skyler Bishop, Elizabeth Bishop, Margaret Gunter, Tommy Bishop, Mary Gunter, James Bishop, John Bishop, Michael Bishop) and one great-grandchild (Guinevere Myers-Palmer). He knew and loved them all. There will be a Mass of Christian Burial celebrated at St. Brendan's Catholic Church in Clearwater, Florida on 16 November 2020 at 10 AM. There will be a celebration of Bruce's extraordinary life and legacy on the lawn of the Bishop lake house when, as Bruce specified, "the weather gets nice", in 2021. Thereafter his remains will be interred at Calvary Cemetery in Tomahawk with full military honors beside his brothers and mother and father. The family requests that any memorial be made to either St. Mary's Catholic Church in Tomahawk, or Wounded Warriors.

LINKS

Hubbell Funeral Home

Superior Telegram

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