Samuel Austin McKay Bishop

Samuel Austin McKay Bishop, passed away on August 7^th, 2023 at the age of 88, surrounded by family in his final weeks.

Sam was born on December 1, 1934 in Columbus Ohio to Harold Amasa Bishop and Rhea Mae (McKay) Bishop. He grew up there, in Youngstown Ohio and Orlando Florida. He graduated from the Bolles Academy in 1952. He received his

B.A. in Political Science from Haverford College in 1956. He went on to Harvard University to complete a Masters of Education in 1958. He continued taking courses for almost two decades until certified in most every aspect of secondary education leadership.

Sam married Louise Fleger on June 27, 1959. They started their life together in Chappaqua, New York where they joined the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) Purchase Yearly Meeting. Sam had been serving in the US Marine Corps Reserves before growing religious conviction led him to become a conscientious objector in 1960, after which he received an honorable discharge from the USMC.

Education was Sam’s calling, and he was a member of Phi Delta Kappa, the national honors society for educators. He started teaching in 1959 in New Jersey and then Colorado. After graduate studies at Cornell University he joined the Rochester City School District in 1968 as a guidance counselor. He retired in 1995 after counseling at Madison, Monroe and Edison Tech High Schools. His students, often with challenging backgrounds, appreciated how he helped them recognize their own potential. He worked with enormous energy, from road construction during high school, to encouraging his counselees, and especially tending to his family, to whom he was profoundly devoted. He supported his children’s interests in scouting, ice hockey, model building, model trains, RC model aviation, and the outdoors. He encouraged his sons in their schoolwork too. We remember him sitting beside us on the living room sofa, red pencil in hand, helping us improve our essays and papers. With his grandchildren, he romped and goofed until they were old enough for more serious discussions. We hoped he enjoyed something of a second childhood through all of this because he didn’t have much time for his own hobbies.

One of those was photography, which he taught at night school and summer school for two decades. He also had a love for the outdoors that he shared with Louise and imparted to his children. We backpacked in Colorado, the Adirondacks and Glacier National Park. Sam and Louise also shared memorable journeys to Italy, Hawaii and, for their 50^th wedding anniversary, Alaska. We hope he counted improving his family’s home as a hobby too, given how much time he spent on that, from scraping paint to yard work, and so much else that comes with a house. He always strove to be helpful.

He will be sadly missed by his wife of 64 years, Louise Fleger Bishop, sons Kevin Harold (Karin Bishop Bondestam), David Fleger (Sherry Louise) Bishop, grandchildren, Linn Aurora Louise (Paul Kinch) Bishop, Maia Kerstin Bonadea Bishop, Zachary Andrew Bishop, Seth Andrew Bishop, sister-in-law, Linda Fleger-Berman, nephews, Benjamin Berman, Stephan (Cassandra) Berman, as well as other relatives and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents and 1 grandson Andrew David Bishop.