Tributes

Dorothy Jean (Mills) Bishop was born on July 27, 1943, in the Alla Hubbard community near Celina, Texas to Gladys Calk and Edvun Mills. Dorothy was the youngest of five daughters. She left this world for heaven on June 7, 2025 in Lebanon, MO. Dorothy grew up a sharecropper's daughter. She and her sisters worked the cotton, hay and wheat crops alongside their parents. It was hard work but a wonderful way to grow up, close to nature and absorbing a solid work ethic. Her mother was the anchor of the family. Graduating from Gunter High School in 1961, she began work at Texas Woman's University in Denton as a secretary. God gave her a fine job and a wonderful boss in Betty Jackson whom she loved as a second mother. With a B.S. (with honors), in 1972, Dorothy entered the Department of Defense as an intern. Specializing in contracts, she learned much and worked hard in Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, and Washington, D.C. and defense plants across the United States. Dorothy retired in 1994 with high civilian honors. Her boss, Admiral Vincent said, "I always knew where I stood with Dorothy." On December 26, 1982, Dorothy married Robert B. Bishop, Jr. of Fairfax, VA, at the Texas Woman's University Little Chapel-in-the-Woods. Virginia was their home until retirement. In 1995, they moved to Texas, settling outside Van Alstyne. They became active in the Friends of the Van Alstyne Library, the Republican Club, Chamber of Commerce, Toastmasters and Rotary. In 1997, they organized a local antique car show which they ran for 19 years with all proceeds going to the Friends of the VA Library. Dorothy was preceded in death by her husband, stepson David Bishop, parents, grandparents (Thomas and Lillie Gray Calk and C.R. and Ida Jackson Mills), baby twin brothers Clifton and Kenneth, her sisters Fay Mills McDonald and Lola Mae Mills, brother-in-law Norman Gore, and nephews Thomas Frizzell and Paul Dudley, and her niece Beverly Dudley. She is survived by Lillie Mills Dudley (Bill) of Lebanon, MO and Alice Mills Gore of Denton. She is also survived by her stepdaughter Kathleen Bishop Murray (Bill), Lansdale, PA. She is also survived by nieces and nephews and their families, as well as numerous cousins. Dorothy leaves behind her sisters of the heart: Sharon Frerking (Ernie) of Austin, Ruth Schmid (Ernie) of Austin, and Phyllis Stout (Bill) of Missouri. A visitation and funeral will be held at Slay Funeral Home in Aubrey, TX, with a private interment at the Tioga cemetery at a later date. On-line condolences may be shared at www.slaymemorialfuneral.com

Tributes

Dorothy Jean Bishop

July 27, 1943 - June 7, 2025