Esther Sarah Bishop

November 15, 1924 - April 3, 2023

Esther was the ninth child of eleven children (seven girls and four

boys) of Allen Emmer Hill and Esther Cecelia Juhl, born in Grand

Island, Nebraska. Her earliest memories are of their home above

the tailor shop where both her parents earned a living. She

particularly remembers an airplane parked at the bottom of the

stairs that she says may have been her father’s sister’s, a female

pilot!

Her fondest memories are of the barn dances where she often

had two dance partners tossing her back and forth between

them.

Esther was an indomitable independent ambitious spirit with

good business sense. She ran a Greyhound franchise in Sunnyside, Washington that moved

freight and people. Next, she purchased the Greyhound franchise in Richland, Wa. This was

before UPS & FedEx and she combined that with a taxi service.

She also purchased an “A house” which was a two story, 3 bed, 1 bath, full basement duplex

across the street from the bus station. Esther turned one side into an apartment downstairs and

rented out the upstairs bedrooms to single men, making the house pay for itself. She could

literally walk to work and check on her children when necessary.

Esther was active in the chamber of commerce and claims that John F Kennedy personally asked

her to be a liaison between Hanford Atomic Works and the City of Richland. We did attend the

dedication of the newest reactor at Hanford where JFK spoke in 1963.

As a divorced mother still raising two boys, Esther, relocated her family from Richland,

Washington to Kent, Washington (greater Seattle area). There she purchased a piece of property

and moved a mobile home onto it. At that time mobile homes were not allowed anywhere but in

mobile home parks. Mother won that battle clearing the way for others.

The affects of spinal surgeries, from a car accident combined with years of lifting heavy packages,

left her disabled and she found she could not support her family on her Social Security and SSI

checks alone. Men and women were not paid social security at the same rate in those days, even

though they had worked as much, and Esther took on the fight to correct that inequity.

Esther was also very active in the Women’s League of Voters and the Democratic Party. She was

instrumental in campaigns for Senators Adam Smith and Patty Murray and has photos with Adam

Smith and Governor Christine Gregoire.

Retirement might slow down most people, but when Esther moved into senior housing she found

the conditions to be well below acceptable standards. She organized the seniors, and, with her

ambition, contacts, and successes, they got much needed parking, and long overdue

improvements, done to the properties she lived in, and worked with, in King County.

Esther leaves behind four children: Larry Leighton (Hawaii), Melissa Dunlap (Montana), Joseph

Bishop (Washington) and Bruce Bishop (Idaho). She has seven grandchildren and maybe fifteen

great grandchildren (I have 11 grandchildren). She has one remaining younger sister, Betty O’Nele

(Nebraska).

Our thanks to Esther’s guardian, Sarah Mills, and Judson Park, Des Moines, Washington

caregivers who have lovingly cared for our mother for a number of years.

Esther & WA Governor Gregoire

Her favorite photo blown up and pride of place in

her living room.1973 wearing my dress; age 49

Esther, Missy (L) & Sara (R) 2022