Dolly Farley Bishop

Our beloved Dolly Farley Bishop of Riner, VA, passed away at her home on Wednesday, September 16, 2020, surrounded by her family and friends.
She was the third of seven daughters and one son born to the late Cecil Earl Farley and the late Lucy Wood Farley, both from West Virginia.
She was also preceded in death by two sisters, Willa Mae Shepherd and Lorene Slusher, and one brother, David Earl Farley.
Those left to cherish her memory are her devoted husband of 66 years, James Robert (Bob) Bishop; her loving son, Robert Gregory (Greg) Bishop and wife Camille; four sisters, Mary Jane (Billy) Richardson of Riner; Cora (Gratton) Thompson of Christiansburg; Florence (Bennie) Bishop of Iowa; and Lou Ellen (Fred) Belcher of West Virginia. Much loved nieces and nephews are; Pam Finley, Debbie Clower, Doug Shepherd, Vicky Akers, Kathy Shepherd, Donald Slusher, Becky Wimmer, Pastor Marvin Wade, Michael Bishop from Iowa, Dr. Scott Bishop from Wisconsin, and Jill Cerankowsky from West Virginia. She is also survived by her special friend Mary Bishop, and her fur babies, Dolly and Sugar, and a host of other families and friends.
After Dolly was graduated from Floyd High School, she was soon married to the love of her life on December 19, 1954. She often told her sisters that shortly after her marriage she had to watch Bob depart on a plane as he was a soldier in the U.S. Army. Their favorite song, "Unchained Melody" became their song for all time. Dolly and Bob shared in their joy for the farm they loved. Bob taught Dolly how to drive a tractor and she helped him with all the chores around the farm. A new life was so exciting to her, especially calving twins. She would announce "We have all these calves and we're feeding some of them on a bottle". She reminded everyone of the actress Eva Gaber on the T.V. show "Green Acres", always "glamorous and quite the lady". Her husband Bob declared that "She was as apt at helping cows with their calves as she was at making her husband a German chocolate cake". She also loved to introduce children to a variety of animals, (the place would look like "Old McDonald's Farm"). In addition to being a "Farmer's Wife", Dolly was also employed by the Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Company for a number of years.
She was in every way a lady, beautiful on the inside and out, a delightful personality, extremely compassionate, and very benevolent. She was loved by all and loved to make people laugh. This was greatly depicted in her role playing; such as dressing up as a "pioneer woman" and cooking up a pot of "possum" stew or dressing in a clown costume for the family reunion at Camp Creek, West Virginia. This was to be the 58th Anniversary and Dolly would collect toys all year long to present to the children along with a balloon. She also enjoyed to travel, yearly trips to Florida, and once in a lifetime trip to Europe and Australia. Camping at Claytor Lake was always fun. Getting out on their boat and water skiing was a joy.
Dolly was a faithful Jehovah's Witness. She was baptized on January 20, 1974 along with her husband Bob and her son Greg. Bob's late brother Buddy Bishop and his wife Carolyn were also baptized on the same day.
As a Jehovah's Witness, Dolly would have Bible studies so that people would be able to learn how to have a better understanding of the Bible. She would also go out in Field Service to teach all the people about Jehovah's Kingdom.
A private viewing will be held for the family. A virtual Memorial will be held on Saturday, September 26th, 2020 at 3:00 p.m. Anyone wishing to attend can email Dbishopmemorial@gmail.com .