Transcription
Obituaries
James A. Bishop, Sr.
By Barbara Dubuc
Longtime Dumfries resident
James A. Bishop, Sr., 83, died Oct.
28 at Mary Washington Hospital,
following a long illness. Funeral services
were held at the Mountcastle
Funeral Home in Woodbridge on
Sunday, Oct. 30, and burial followed
at the Dumfries Cemetery.
The Oddfellows conducted a
memorial service at the funeral
home Saturday night for Bishop, a
member for more than 50 years.
Bishop is survived by his wife,
Emma Hughes, of the home; his
son, James A., Jr., of Rome, Ga.;
his daughter, Jean B. Garrett, of
Springfield, Va., and a brother,
Early Lee Bishop, of Charlottesville,
six grandchildren and two
great-grandchildren.
Bishop was active in town and
county affairs. He was a member of
the first Dumfries Town Council in
the early 1960s, after the town was
rechartered, and was also the
town's first treasurer.
"He was interested in everything
and was always attending
meetings," says Mrs. Bishop.
"To me, Mr. Bishop was Mr.
Dumfries," says Marjorie J. Davis,
Dumfries' ex-mayor. "He was a
wise, down-to-earth man who had a
great concern and love for this little
town, and if he really, truly believed
in something, he would stand his
ground."
Other longtime residents, including
Thelma Mountjoy - widow
of ex-mayor Alton Mountjoy - and
Vice-Mayor Eleanor Gum, recalled
that Bishop was very involved in the
work of rechartering the town and
in restoring the Weems-Botts
House to become a museum.
"He was an honorable man,"
said the vice mayor.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Bishop are
Charlottesville natives, who, after
their 1930 marriage, moved to
Dumfries in March, 1931. He began
a lengthy civilian career at Quantico
Marine Corps Base, retiring in 1971
as supervisor of reclamation and
salvage for the Navy Department.
A May 3, 1979 letter from Maj.
Gen. J. H. Miller, U.S.M.C.,
enclosed a copy of the history of
Quantico. Maj. Miller lauds Bishop
as a person "in a position of leadership
and responsibility...[who] contributed
so significantly to all that
has taken place here in what has
been so appropriately termed 'the
crossroads of the Corps'".
He was a "born speaker," says
his widow, and Bishop honed these
skills as a charter member of the
Chopowamsic Toastmaster Club.
Bishop, a history buff, was also a
charter member of Historic Dumfries
Virginia, Inc.
His death, following Alton
Mountjoy and Cecil Garrison,
marks the third this year of Dumfries'
residents involved in town affairs
after its rechartering.Transcriber
Adam KitchenLanguage
English