Bob Bish
Here it is the Year of our Lord 2007 in the rainy month of June. My name is Robert Arthur Bish but most of you know me by the moniker Bob. I have been retired a little over five years from the Department of Human Services, where I worked 27 plus years as a social worker/eligibility worker at such sites as Enid State School, Child Support Enforcement, and the Oklahoma County Welfare Department. Before that I had desultory brief careers as a divinity student, graduate student in history, history instructor, historic site manager, YMCA health club director, and 9 months of hard labor of the non-prison variety.
Just a week after receiving a Masters Degree in American History from the University of Oklahoma in August 1966, I married Sharon Mechem of Okeene, OK. Out of this union came Amy Lea Bish born Nov 17, 1973. Sharon and I were pleased to be parents of an unusually gifted girl who went to graduate from Casady Prep School (in Oklahoma City) and Williams College in MA. While employed in Washington DC she met the love of her life, Lloyd Dugan and they were wed June 13, 1998. In March 2004 Breanna Gaylynn Dugan came along to enrich immeasurably the lives of the proud grandparents, who made at least three trips a year back to Alexandria ,VA to do her bidding as “Granny” and “Granddad”. My 35 year obsession with long distance running, highlighted by completion of two Boston Marathons in 1977 and 1980, is winding down to the status of neighborhood jogging (although I did manage to complete the Oklahoma City National Memorial half marathon this past April). I volunteer as a docent at the Oklahoma City Murrah Museum, as a research assistant at the Oklahoma History Center, and during the school year as an after school tutor.
Probably my most satisfying role as a volunteer consist of singing membership in the Canterbury Choral Society which also entails participating in their educational outreach and fundraising events. Also I serve on the board of the Civic Music Association, which promotes a recital series to enhance the communities opportunities to experience world class artists. Sharon makes this possible by working full time as a librarian at the downtown branch of the Metropolitan Library System. Last year we celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary by going to Austria with a group of singers to sing a Mozart mass in Salzburg and Vienna. From the photos you can see that I still am loyal to the EHS colors of blue and white in every attire and that I hang out with EHS grads like Livingston, Torbett and Skarky not to mention a cool cat named Fluffy. Oh yes I have kept a journal for some 30 years.
See you in October.
Bob