Eugene Bishop

Eugene Bishop, age 92, went to be with the Lord on June 1, 2023, while a resident of Jefferson Davis County Extended Care Facility. Visitation will be held at Lakewood Funeral Home on Wednesday, June 7 at 11:00 am, and a funeral service to follow at 1:00 pm.

Mr. Bishop was born in Sallis, Mississippi and moved with his family to Durant as a child. He was a graduate of Durant High School. He met his future wife, Dorothy Downer, at Holmes County State Park while he was a lifeguard and she was there with the Sunday School class she was teaching. Upon graduation, he joined the Air Force and spent time in France and Germany, learning the languages. They married in 1955 and moved to the Jackson Metro area where he was a longtime resident. He continued his education taking some business courses at Millsaps. During that time, he began his career at Sears and retired from there many years later. In between, he impacted many at Queen Lane Baptist Church as a Sunday school teacher and Deacon. He coached little league baseball (Iroquois League) and Babe Ruth baseball. His former players say that he impacted them in a positive way and that he was a fair disciplinarian and loving coach! He was kind and generous to his friends and donated to many charitable organizations. His love language was cooking with a few of his specialties being peanut brittle and red beans and rice. He loved sharing meals with the ones he loved. He later became a lifetime member of four Veterans groups: The American Legion, VFW, the Forty and Eight “Honor Society of the American Legion” and the Disabled Veterans. In these organizations he held many offices of leadership from Commander to Chaplain. He was also the managing editor of the Mississippi Legionnaire Newspaper of the American Legion. In his earlier days, he enjoyed fishing, hunting, and even a little dancing. He lived a full happy life!

He was a loving son, brother, husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather and friend to many.

Mr. Bishop is preceded in death by his parents, Robert Levi and Bessie Robertson Bishop; wife, Dorothy Downer Bishop; and his siblings, John, Delma, Levi, Leroy and Lorraine Cripps.

Survivors include his daughters, Cheryl Bishop, Darlene Mott (Art) and son, Mike Bishop (Ree); grandchildren, Brian and Tiffany Birdsong, Heather Grantham (Chris) and Danyelle Roberts (Jake), Tyler Bishop, Meredith Bexley (Ed) and Tori Risher (Adam); Great grandchildren, Jase, Faith and Emma, Jace, Levi, Ryleigh, Reed, Dawson, Aubrey, Kennedy, Kane, Lillian, Georgia and Madelyn and his siblings Ann Edwards and Louise Owens.

The family would like to thank everyone for your thoughts and prayers. Thank you to the staff at the Veterans Administration for the many years of care and a special thanks to the staff at the nursing home for your compassion and expertise in dealing with our dad!