Bishop, Marilyn A., 80, a retired school teacher and longtime Cedar Rapids resident, died Sunday, July 3, 2005 after a long illness.
Born July 10, 1924 Marilyn A. Agne in Tipton, Iowa, she was a graduate of Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. She married Warren L. Bishop in 1946 at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Cedar Rapids. She worked as a social worker for Linn County before beginning her long career as a home economics teacher at Harding Junior High School in Cedar Rapids.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Warren, her father, Harry Agne, and her mother, May Achey. She is survived by her twin daughters, Linda L. Bishop Frazier of Prairie City, Iowa, and Lynn A. Bishop Weeks of Wichita, Kansas, her two grandchildren, Rebecca Frazier of Des Moines and Will Frazier of Prairie City, her stepfather, D.L. Achey, of Bettendorf, Iowa, her sons in law, Larry D. Frazier of Prairie City and Robert W. Weeks of Wichita, and dozens of nieces, nephews, friends and neighbors.
She was an active bluebird and campfire girl leader and an active member of the Cedar Rapids Womens' Club. Marilyn remained interested in her hometown of Tipton and loved to visit Cedar County.
She will be deeply missed for her warmth, her sense of humor, her generosity and her dedication to those she loved.
Marilyn's family would like to thank her neighbors for their boundless help, support and love during the last several years.
The family will receive visitors on Wednesday, July 6, 2005 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. in the Cedar Memorial Funeral home. The memorial service will be at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 7. 2005 in the Cedar Memorial chapel. A private burial service will be held following the service at Cedar Memorial. In lieu of flowers, contributions to the Cedar Rapids Womens' Club scholarship program would be appreciated.
As family and friends gather here today to celebrate Marilyn's life, we know that she herself planned for her service to be in this chapel. We are here to celebrate Marilyn, for all of you will not need help to remember her. Many of you have a lifetime of "Marilyn memories" to comfort you and keep her in your hearts forever.
Marilyn had a wonderful, full life. She enjoyed being raised on the farm where she was born in Tipton. She shared stories of her cats — dressing them in doll clothes, and, once, she trimmed all their whiskers. Turns out cats use their whiskers to judge spaces and her cats crawled in a tight space in the garage and couldn't get out. Her dad had to remove some boards and some pieces of heavy limestone foundation to free those felines!
Marilyn wasn't shy ... in school she acted in many plays and she excelled in speech making. She liked to talk — on the stage, in person, and on the phone! Her high school friends called her "Ag" (short for Agne). She was the life of the party — and continued to be at all of the class reunions. Just yesterday her high school pal, Shirley Hipple, described Marilyn as a "one person entertainment committee."
Marilyn loved cars. She was one of very few college students in Ames to have a car and she was considered by many of her friends to be a fearless driver. To the end of her life she talked about her "red car." Many of you enjoyed long car trips and leisurely drives with Marilyn. She liked being "on the go" and was always ready for an impromptu ride to Lake MacBride, the Amanas, Delhi, or just to Ellis Park. Lynn and Linda knew their was around Cedar Rapids, Mount Vernon, Marion, and Tipton when quite young. Their memories include many local drives as well as longer ones. Marilyn was rather "brave" to travel to Colorado, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnessota, and many other states alone with the girls. In 1968 the three of them enjoyed a Joan Baez concert in the breathtaking open air Red Rock Amphitheater west of Denver, surrounded by hippies smoking various things. Marilyn took it all in stride.
Marilyn may have been an only child, but she was seldom alone! She always had many friends and was a good friend to have! When Marilyn met Warren and fell in love with him and married, she suddenly had three new brothers (and their wives) and a sister (and her husband). Last year, she laughed and enjoyed a wonderful visit with Kenny and Lorraine and Jean and John. She told wonderful stories of her times with Warren and his family. During their courtship, they saw a still-unknown Nat "King" Cole in the old Flame Room in downtown Cedar Rapids. Marilyn loved her new mother-in-law, "Mayme," and always assured that she was a part of Lynn's and Linda's lives.
Marilyn's favorite roles in life were definitely as "Mom" and "Grandma." Lynn and Linda have photos, slides, movies, tape recordings, and videos of years of joyful holidays and simpler "everyday" times. Lynn is grateful for all the times she spent with her mom as an adult — a trip to Toronto and countless visits to Chicago and Wichita. Linda is so happy that Marilyn was close to first Elmhurst, Illinois when Becky was born — and then to Prairie City, where Will was born and the kids grew up. When Marilyn had to leave her house in Cedar Rapids to move to Des Moines and Bickford Cottage, she was blessed to get frequent visits from Linda, Larry, Will and Becky, her dear friend Ruth, and her fabulous brother-in-law Kenny and his wife Lorraine. Becky often brought her friends — and even her cat, Stormy. Will often came carrying cases of pop — a thrill in Marilyn's life there. Linda's friends visited, too, and Lynn's best friend, Mary, often drove to Des Moines from Marion to join Bob and Lynn when they visited. The Bickford Cottage in Urbandale (part of Des Moines) welcomed Marilyn with open arms. Until she had to leave there in January due to a broken leg, she was the most popular resident there. Her nurse, also named Linda, says that Marilyn was never lonely or down — she cheered everyone else up — always with a hug or a kiss. She began singing little songs and blowing kisses last year. As her illness progressed, a childlike, innocent, happy sweetness emerged. Linda and Lynn were sad to lose their old home on Soutter in Cedar Rapids, but home was always where Marilyn was.
Becky and Will were the absolute joyful delights in Marilyn's life. She made up a song just for them about "Micky Mouse and Pluto Dog." Not surprisingly, it was about them taking a car trip. Linda recalls that singing this was a sure-fire method to get Becky and Will to fall asleep. Marilyn may not have been a great songwriter, but she was a great grandmother. Becky and Will loved going to Grandma's house — they got to sleep (and jump) on a mattress on the floor. Grandma took them to Adventureland for fun and excitement, too. Marilyn delighted in shopping for them, treating them, and just plain "grandmothering" them! She was thrilled with all of their accomplishments and made it to Prairie City to cheer at T-ball, school plays, and graduations. She generously and happily helped them financially with their college educations. When "Aunt" Lynn remembers holidays and visits when they were babies, she remembers getting to hold Becky and Will only when Grandma was busy! She loved them as only a grandma can!
Some people chose to "adopt" Marilyn as their mom. Four special people who loved Marilyn often recognized her as their second mom: Craig, Curtis, Darcy, and Colin Ackley. Marilyn was a constant, happy presence in their lives.
Marilyn's family has many people in Cedar Rapids to thank for making it possible for her to stay "at home" as long as she did. The "Lifeline" service that gave Marilyn a necklace with a button to push if she needed help ... "Meals On Wheels," which Marilyn finally, reluctantly accepted. "Comfort Care," a company that provided Marilyn light housekeeping and personal care. Dr. Richard Pope, her longtime physician and friend, for honest, caring treatment of Marilyn and her family. We would even like to thank the Schwans Ice Cream Company, the home delivery food people. We jokingly called their trucks "her fleet," and when she left Cedar Rapids her freezer was overflowing with a variety of ice cream and sherbet flavors!
But it was mostly her neighbors who kept a loving eye on Marilyn, from afar and up close. Mary and her late husband, Matt, her neighbors directly across the street, kept Marilyn safe and entertained. Matt and Marilyn had a way of communicating by lamps and draperies and blinds. Marilyn enjoyed their company so much she nicknamed the three of them "The Three Amigos." They joked and laughed and were like family for years. Her other neighbor, Kate Merta, often joined in the fun.
Marilyn's wonderful friends, Pat Onstott and Joyce Jeanblanc, gave Marilyn years of fun and friendship. They shared so much, all meeting at Harding Middle School. Many of you know that Marilyn loved teaching and loved to drive all visitors by Harding just to see it. She was as proud of it as if she'd been the architect or builder. She made so many friends as a teacher that we can't mention them all today ... we'd still be here tomorrow. Lynn and Linda seldom went shopping, or to Red Lobster, a favorite of Marilyn's, without Marilyn being greeted or hugged by former students or their parents. She hoped that she had been a positive influence on them — and she surely was.
Marilyn remained a very close friend of Arlene Morden Kenney, a friend since they were about five years old in Tipton. Marilyn called Arlene, or Arlene called Marilyn, every morning after Marilyn retired. They would read each other their daily horoscopes in the Gazette and laugh about them. Arlene and Marilyn even shared a birthday — both were born on July 10.
As we said earlier, while Marilyn lost many memories due to her illness, we want her friends to know that she carried many jokes, comments, and preferences along with her. She still said "hot to trot" when she wanted to go somewhere or was starting out ... she still said "leg show" if her dress needed adjusting, and she still considered a trip to Burger King as a gourmet treat!
Lynn and Bob came from Wichita and visited Marilyn last week, saying goodbye on Monday, June 27th. Lynn was able to kiss her goodbye and tell her she loved her, and Marilyn kissed her on her forehead. Lynn will never forget that.
So ... how do we part with Marilyn? How can we bear it? Marilyn was blessedly unaware of her illness ... she was spared from knowing that she couldn't remember ... she gradually moved into a focus of the present — what was before her, touched, seen, and heard. Her family came to value each smile, each word, each hug, each kiss, and her response to having her hair stroked, her hand held ... Alzheimer's disease is sometimes called "The Long Goodbye." Perhaps the only way her loved ones could let her go was a little at a time. Perhaps she couldn't leave those she loved so much any faster.
As we celebrate Marilyn today in this lovely chapel, in this beautiful park, it seems only fitting. Since their father was buried here, Marilyn brought the twins and Becky and Will often to watch the beautiful swans, to buy beautiful flowers next door, and to visit Warren's grave, and, later, Marilyn's mother's. When you see roses, and peonies, and swans, remember Marilyn ... she would like that.
Created by Robert W. Weeks