Funeral services for John Mark Bishop, 57, of Athens, Texas are scheduled for 10:00 A.M. Wednesday, January 7, 2015 at Hannigan Smith Funeral Home in Athens, Texas with Dr. James Bishop and Minister Sandy Kietzman officiating.
Mr. Bishop passed away at his home on Wednesday, December 31, 2014 in Athens, Texas.
John Mark Bishop was born December 6, 1957 in Bowie, Texas the son of Grover C. Bishop and Rosa Lee Ludwig Bishop. John’s family moved to Little Rock, Arkansas when he was 3, which is when he became a lifelong fan of the Arkansas Razorbacks. His family then moved to Athens in 1971, he graduated from Athens High in 1976 and later graduated from Henderson County Junior College. He worked for the Athens Daily Review in the late 70’s and then worked for Curtis Mathis in the 80’s. In the 90’s he began his career with Lowe’s and in 2012 he was honored as a Top 1000 Employee of 284,000 employee’s nationwide. In 2009 he began his courageous battle with laryngeal cancer, and then spent 5 glorious years afterwards. He went back to work at Lowe’s in Tyler immediately following his recovery. In 2010 he gave away his youngest daughter at her wedding in Jefferson, Texas. He attended the 2012 Cotton Bowl game where his Razorbacks defeated Kansas State 29-16. On August 17, 2012 he welcomed his grandson and namesake John Quinton Anderson into the world. He loved basketball, college football, soccer and Formula One racing. He enjoyed reading and had an extensive collection of books and art. John Mark collected chess sets from all over the world. He was a loving son, father, brother and grandfather and will be missed by all he knew and loved.
He was preceded in death by his father and one brother William Ross Bishop.
He is survived by his two daughters, Carra Splawn and husband Lance of Athens, Rachel Lee Anderson and husband Adam of Athens; his mother Rosa Lee Bishop of Odessa; his former wife Lydia Bishop of Athens; sister Sandy Kietzman and husband Tim of Hallsville, Missouri; brother James Bishop and wife Sherry of Odessa; two grandchildren, Keyton Splawn and John Quinton Anderson; numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, friends; his beloved dog Lila and a few crazy cats.
Serving as honorary pallbearers will be Lance Splawn, Adam Anderson, Wayne Ludwig, Wes Ludwig, Warren Ludwig, James Mabrey, Tony Bishop, Glen Loper, Larry Brown and Nick Brockway.
Visitation will be Tuesday, January 6, 2015 from 6-8:00 P.M. at the Hannigan Smith Funeral Home in Athens, Texas.
In lieu of flowers the family would like donations to be made in Mr. Bishop’s memory to: Henderson County Humane Society, 900 West College Street, Athens, TX 75751, Phone: (903) 677-7387.
Arrangements were entrusted to the Hannigan Smith Funeral Home of Athens.
Mr. Bishop will be deeply missed by the staff at the Henderson County Library. Our deepest condolences to his family and friends.