Betty Jean Waller Bishop, 85, of Irwinville, Georgia passed away Tuesday, July 16, 2024, at Southwell Tift Regional Medical Center in Tifton, Georgia. She passed peacefully to her heavenly home surrounded by her loving family.
Funeral services will be held 11 AM, Saturday, July 20, 2024, at Irwinville Baptist Church, in Irwinville, Georgia, with the Rev. Dr. Mark Spence officiating. Interment will follow at the Irwinville Cemetery, in Irwinville, Georgia. The family will receive friends in the church sanctuary during the hour preceding services.
Mrs. Bishop was born September 4, 1938, in Fitzgerald, Georgia to the late William H. "Boy" Waller & Lucille Padgette Waller. She was a 1956 graduate of Fitzgerald High School in Fitzgerald, Georgia. She met her husband Robert Douglas “Bob” Bishop while attending Georgia State College for Women in Milledgeville, Georgia. In 1995 she received her Doctorate in Philosophy of Education from Valdosta State College. Mr. and Mrs. Bishop and their children traveled to Hawaii, Texas, Germany, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Florida as a military family. She served as an educator for thirty years in the Ben Hill County and Irwin County School Systems and as an assistant principal for Ben Hill County Schools. After her retirement in May 2004, she was a member of the Georgia District Pilot Club International and Treasurer of the Georgia Retired Educators Association. Betty Jean was a member and sang in the choir of Irwinville Baptist Church and spent time in the North Georgia mountains hiking with her family. She enjoyed painting, playing piano, and singing with the local Bernhardt Singers group. She was devoted to her church, community, and family.
She is survived by her children and their spouses: Steven Bishop & Rachel O’Banion Bishop of Bloomington, Indiana, Barbara Williams of Valdosta, Phillip Bishop & Teresa Wakefield Bishop of Jefferson, Georgia, and Timothy Paul Bishop of Dahlonega, Georgia; grandchildren: Hannah Bishop, Zachary Bishop, Erin Williams, Daniel Williams, Rachael Bishop Garner, Leah Bishop Roberts, and Katie Bishop; three great-grandchildren: Wendell Garner, Rylan Garner, and Jayden Roberts; and a sister, Frances Larsen of California. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Robert Douglas “Bob” Bishop; and siblings: Billy Waller, Gwen Bassin, Bobby Waller, and Joy Spires.
Condolences may be conveyed online to www.paulkfuneralhome.com