Richard Arthur Bishop

Richard Arthur Bishop, 80, was called home on 17 August 2025 after a lengthy sparring match with cancer. As the eldest child of Draper and Elizabeth Bishop (née Simmons), Richard was a born leader, quickly followed by two siblings, Donald and Deanne. He was also a natural storyteller, first taking his talents to the stage as Tom Sawyer during his freshman year of high school. Richard would continue to shine in a gamut of limelights over the years, from Annie Get Your Gun, Richard III, The Shewing-Up of Blanco Posnet (by his beloved Shaw), and other productions, to nightly one-man shows for his children, one of whom forged a doctorate of literature in the foundry of storytime. Richard took great pleasure in supporting theater from the other side of the curtain as well: the Milwaukee Repertory Theater often found him as an audience member, an usher, and, once, as a wedding officiant; the American Players Theater in Spring Green, Wisconsin, was another favorite venue.

For Richard, all the world was a stage. From his high school’s acapella group to the Waukesha Choral Union, the choir at Atonement Lutheran Church, which was his musical home for over 36 years, and just about every hallway worthy of a whistle, Richard shared his dulcet talents widely. He joyfully merged both stage and song as co-director of Atonement’s Hearts of Broadway productions.

Following his graduation from Northern Illinois University with a BA in marketing in 1968, Richard took an extended tour of Korea for the US military, serving from 1968 to 1971. Upon his honorable discharge, Richard put his considerable powers of persuasion to work, quickly launching a successful career as a pharmaceutical salesman and a campaign to woo and wed a young pharmacist named Marsha (née Bakke). Let the record show that no one sold more Christmas trees out of a K-Mart parking lot to support the Wisconsin Lions Camp on freezing Wisconsin winter evenings during the last two decades of the twentieth century than Richard. True to form, Richard received his company’s highest honors, gracing the Chairman’s Round Table and President’s Circle; he also quit smoking during the Great American Smokeout in November 1988 with his uncle and friend, Burton Simmons, teaching his children valuable lessons about tenacity and carotenemia.

Down one vice, Richard picked up another: motorcycling. Riding Route 66, Great Lakes Rides, and to Portland and back in The Ride Home with some of his best friends (old and new) brought him great joy. So, too, did his second wife, Jane Forward. He also enjoyed traveling widely, from Japan to Ireland; listening to the Beatles, Queen, ABBA, Stravinsky, Tom Waits, James Taylor; and stock trading legerdemain. A lifelong learner, Richard loved reading, watching documentaries, and delighting in puns.

Generous with his time and talents, the wrestling team and student council at Cary Grove High benefited from his sagacity as did the Hales Corners Lions Club, the Whitnall School Board, and just about every organization that he got within range of over the years. In recent times, he led TED Talk discussions at the Shorehaven retirement community in Oconomowoc in addition to serving on various boards and generally lending a hand wherever needed.

Richard was preceded in death by his parents, his first wife Marsha, his siblings, his brother-in-law Dick Turner, and his step-daughter Julie DeMay. He is survived by his wife Jane; his children David Bishop, Katherine Bishop (Scott Newton), Morgan Varihue (Clarissa); his step-children Angie Cargill (Tim), Joe Forward (Jenny), Kevin Forward (Natalie); his brother-in-law Kent Bakke (Wanda Foster), sisters-in-law Nancy Boymer (Larry) and Sue Weidner (Michael); four grandchildren, two nephews, a host of cousins, and a bevy of friends.

A celebration of life for Richard will be held on 30 August 2025 at 11 am at Atonement Lutheran Church in Muskego, Wisconsin (S70W16244 Martin Dr.). The family visitation will begin at 10 am. All are welcome. In lieu of flowers, contributions to the Wisconsin Lions Camp for Wisconsin youth and adults with disabilities or the ProHealth AngelsGrace Hospice Center in Oconomowoc would be appreciated.