Portrait of a teacher

Art teacher John Bishop was featured in the Herald story, “Portrait of an art teacher” when he retired last June after 35 years at ERHS, his alma mater.

Emily Umansky/Herald

The historical society of East Rockaway and Lynbrook were fortunate enough, and very grateful, to be able to share a drawing by John Bishop, depicting the Grist Mill as it once stood.

Courtesy HSERL

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John Bishop, who just last June announced his retirement after teaching art at East Rockaway High School for 35 years, died on Jan. 16 at the age of 63.

Born on September 4, 1950, Bishop had deep roots in East Rockaway. His father was born in the community 105 years ago, and Bishop attended ERHS, graduating in 1968. He lived in East Rockaway until he was 27, when he got married and moved to Lynbrook.
He attended St. Johns University before getting a job as a student teacher in a private school. He returned to his alma mater, to teach in 1978, when his first son was born. He has been The East Rockaway Education Foundation’s Man of the Year and has received many accolades for this artwork throughout the years.
In a Herald interview last June, Bishop said that “art is the only thing that has never been out of my life … I’m very lucky in that, some people don’t have anything that they really love to do. I like my classroom to be like a workshop — very sloppy, very chaotic at times — but in the end you get what you want.”
“John Bishop was a beloved faculty member of the East Rockaway school community, who was treasured by all,” said district Superintendent Lisa Ruiz. “ He deeply touched the lives of our students and faculty in so many ways, and inspired everyone in our school community to be a better person.  He will be deeply missed.”
“John Bishop has left an indelible footprint in the halls of ERHS and my life, said secretary Doreen Johnson. “I am a better person for having known him. I will miss him, his stories and his infectious laugh.”
Bishop said in the June interview that the interaction with the kids and the community are the things that he really loved, and that he loved to “nurture the artists’ nature of someone who is not an artist. Most of them are non-majors and will never take an art class again. The most important thing is for the kids to have a good experience.”
Bishop taught the potter’s wheel, painting and drawing, and stage design for all the shows at the high school.
He said in the June interview that he had no intentions to retire, but he remembered that, the night before Sandy, when he came out into the street and saw big black clouds coming across.
“I’ve seen a lot of hurricanes growing up in town, but I’ve never seen anything like that,” he said. “ ... after the storm, everything was so devastated … and I began to think, anything can happen in life. And I thought, you really have to be ready for anything, and if it isn’t a hurricane, it could be something else that changes your life … and I want to just have some time.”
Bishop is survived by his wife, Melanie and his three sons Will, John and David. Memorial services were held at Perry Funeral Home in Lynbrook earlier this week.

Parts of this story were from a June 2013 interview conducted with John Bishop by Herald intern Emily Umansky.

Tributes to John Bishop