The Foreign Service Journal, January 2012

68 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 2 I N M EMORY Kathleen Marie Bishop, 64, the wife of retired FSO James K. Bishop, died of brain cancer on Sept. 29 at their home in Washington, D.C. Born and raised in Portland, Ore., Mrs. Bishop was both an engineer and an artist. While attending school in Seattle, she worked on mechanical drawings for the Boeing Corporation’s 747 plane. In 1977 she graduated from The George Washington University with a B.S. in mechanical engineering, one of only two women in her class. Returning to Washington, D.C., after the first time she accompanied her husband abroad, she was privately employed for three years designing light tables for use in photo interpreta- tion. While her engineering degree was her meal ticket, Mrs. Bishop’s passion was art. A third-generation quilter and quilt historian, she worked as a board member of the Chevy Chase Needle Chasers on numerous projects, includ- ing making quilts for those afflicted with HIV/AIDS in the Washington, D.C., area. On one occasion, at the re- quest of the Bill Clinton administration, she sewed together the quilt blocks re- ceived from every state and territory to help decorate the White House at Christmas. A gifted water colorist, Mrs. Bishop exhibited her paintings at theWashing- ton Art League Gallery and other gal- leries inWashington, Baltimore and the Maryland counties. She was juried into many shows, won her share of awards, and sold a satisfactory number of her paintings. She was a longtime board member and one-time interim presi- dent of the Washington Art League, as well as a juriedmember of the Potomac Valley Watercolorists Association and the Miniature Painters, Sculptors & Gravers of Washington. In 2009 she was accepted for docent training by the National Art Gallery and continued her training even after learn- ing she had a fatal illness. With the help of colleagues, she received her do- cent certificate three months before her death. In the three final years of her life Mrs. Bishop also worked as a glass artist, fusing beautiful household items and jewelry in a kiln at the cou- ple’s weekend home in St. Leonard, Md. It was as an art teacher that Mrs. Bishop found greatest satisfaction. The imagination of her young students at Blessed Sacrament School inWashing- ton, D.C., thrilled her; and, despite her diminutive size, her wit and presence kept rowdy teenagers focused on their classwork. In retirement she focused much of her energy working with fifth-grade girls at risk because members of their families were involved in Alexandria’s courts. At A Space of Her Own weekly meetings, she had excellent rapport with the girls as a mentor and as the lit- tle lady who taught them to produce hand-painted silk scarves and other works of art they had imagined were beyond their capabilities. Accompanying her husband on am- bassadorial assignments to Niger (1979-1981), Liberia (1987-1990) and Somalia (1990-91), Mrs. Bishop sup- ported his work. She traveled through- out Niger and Liberia visiting local officials and Peace Corps Volunteers. She worked with local women’s craft and health groups and served as a board member of Operation Smile in Liberia. In Niger, she offered the resi- dence pool to all Americans and on every assignment tried to make the Peace Corps Volunteers and young Marines feel at home. Soon after her arrival in Mogadishu she narrowly escaped death when a So- mali fired a pistol at her head from 10 feet away. But she declined to leave, remaining in the capital until all official American dependents were evacuated several months later. When the extent of violence downtown kept members of the international community from at- tending church, she offered the official residence for religious services. At her husband’s retirement, Mrs. Bishop was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation by the State Department for her contributions to the American