Richard W. Bishop

Richard Woodrow Bishop, 92, died Friday, February 13, 2009. Dick, Greg, and Jill were parents themselves before they realized the father they considered "normal" was so extraordinary that there must have been magic involved. He built a firm in Medford where he practiced the law he loved with generosity and honor. He wrote books that were translated into languages with mysterious alphabets and later Prima Facie Case a series for Massachusetts lawyers. He took pictures that graced the pages of Life magazine. He ran rental properties from apartment buildings in Boston to cottages on the Cape. And as if that weren't enough, he was president of Rotary, deacon of the church, sat on the boards of hospitals and banks, and was an active member of the PTA. But here is where it gets magical. Ida, Dick, Greg, and Jill were the center of his universe. If you had asked Dick, Greg or Jill what their father did, they would have told you he spent his days planning adventures to be shared. They baked cakes in the shape of snowmen in winter and built sandcastles with turrets and tunnels in the summer. April Fool's Day always involved explosives. Saturdays there were trips to the museums, sundaes at Brigham's, and afternoon matinees. There were stamp and coin clubs, magic and puppet shows, and if you lost a tooth you got a long letter from Uncle Wiggily, who apparently is the tooth fairy's hard-working assistant. With work and community service and all the attention he lavished on his children you would think there couldn't possibly be anything left. But all you had to do was catch a glimpse of him looking at his wife and you knewhe was smittenfor more than 70 yearssmitten. It was a life filled with lovelove of the law, love of his work, love of his community, and most of all love of his family. It was nothing short of magical. Immediate surviving family members include his son Dr. Richard Bishop and his wife Sande Bishop, his son Dr. Gregory Bishop and his wife Joyce Bishop, and his daughter Jill Rubalcaba and her husband Daniel Rubalcaba. There will be no formal services. Memorial donations can be sent to Grace Episcopal Church in Medford, Massachusetts.