Jacqueline “Jackie” Jean Bishop, 85, of Montgomery City, passed away peacefully on Monday, Dec. 18 at the St. Andrew’s at New Florence, in New Florence, where she stayed for four days.
Jackie was born on April 24, 1936, in Slater, to William “Jack” Hall Murphy and Meda “Jo” Margarete McClain Murphy.
Jackie met Calvin Bishop in the summer of 1953. She was sitting on the hood of her black four-hole Buick and he asked a friend, “Who is the gorgeous redhead?” They spent that summer dancing in every dance hall in Montgomery, Audrain and Gasconade Counties. The following summer on June 19, 1954 they were wed in St. Charles. Calvin would always comment that she was one in a million and could “fight the devil with a thimble full of water, and win!”
Jackie loved music and always had it playing in her home and car. Classical, big band, show tunes, and folk music were some of her favorites. She studied voice at William Woods in Fulton beginning at age 12 and studied piano with Vivian Updyke in Wellsville. She sang in many cantatas and musicals; and was requested to sing at many weddings and funerals.
To those living in the “Lower 48”, who knew Jackie and how meticulous and impeccable she was in appearances and homemaking, would be surprised to know that she said her happiest times were spent living in the “bush” of Alaska raising her children in a small camp trailer, far from the conveniences of life. She followed Calvin as he helped build roads, airports, dams and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline in this young state living as far north as the Arctic, to the west near the Bering Sea and delta of the Yukon River, to the east near the Canadian border, to Southcentral near Cook Inlet, to the Southeast Panhandle near the Pacific Ocean and many small communities and camps in between. Their first year was spent near Scotty Creek, where Jackie was cornered in the camp wash house by a black bear. She picked up the washing machine (full of water and clothes) and barricaded herself safely inside, while screaming for Calvin. She was ready to pack her things and head down the ALCAN Highway through Canada and back to Missouri, but after the adrenaline wore off she stayed on and fell in love with Alaska. Some of her favorite places were Scotty Creek, Nelly Kelly’s, Copper Center, Riverside, Tonsina, Northway, Slope Mountain, Summit Lake, Saint Mary’s, Northway, Valdez, Ketchikan, Wrangell, and Paxson.
Jackie studied nursing in Mexico, graduating in 1974. Then she worked off and on at Gamma Road Lodge in Wellsville, until her retirement. She was a member of the Wellsville United Methodist-Presbyterian Church for many years; and was active in the choir and volunteering at their Lord’s Acre Sale and various church dinners.
It is hard for the family to find the words to describe the extraordinary wife, mother, mother-in-law, daughter, sister, friend, human being that was Jackie. Not that she couldn’t occasionally have a “red headed moment”, she was human after all, and whomever triggered the event surely deserved the consequence. She was very proud of her two children, three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. She passed on her love and talent for cooking to her children and grandchildren and all would call her on occasion to ask for a favorite recipe or how to correct a potential cooking disaster
Jackie was preceded in death by her parents, Jack and Jo Murphy. She is survived by her husband, Howell Calvin Bishop of Montgomery City; son, State Senator Clark Calvin (Click) Bishop and wife, Darlene Taylor Bishop of Fairbanks, Alaska; daughter, Sara (Missy) Melissa Bishop Cohen and husband, Norman Stuart Cohen of Overland Park, Kan.; grandchildren, Lori Bishop and Lisa Bishop (Rob) of Fairbanks and Jessica Anne Metcalfe (Keith) of Rake, West Sussex, United Kingdom; great-grandchildren, Taylor, Kadence and Evan Brinkman, and Basil Foxx, III, all of Fairbanks; brother, Bill Murphy (Sara) of Bradenton, Fla.; many nieces, nephews, and friends, especially her lifelong friend, Shelley Reed, whom she met in elementary school and shared many adventures, in Missouri and Alaska, or “escapes” as they may have called them.
The family will honor Jackie’s request to have no services and that some of her ashes be taken back to Alaska and spread in her favorite places.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Bethel Cemetery Fund.
Attention: Ron Knigge Bethel Cemetery 117 Bethel Church Road Wellsville, MO 63384.
