†Sister Liz Bishop, OP
Deceased
March 20, 1935 – December 13, 2024
Entered eternal life on December 13, 2024 at the age of 89 after 70 years of religious life. We commend Sister Liz to your prayers.
March 20, 1935 – December 13, 2024
Entered eternal life on December 13, 2024 at the age of 89 after 70 years of religious life. We commend Sister Liz to your prayers.
“See! I will not forget you. I have carved you in the palm of my hand.” ~ Isaiah 49:15
Elizabeth was born March 20, 1935, in Chesaning, Michigan. She was the sixth of ten children of Alphonse and Mary Martin Bishop. Her father worked at Frankenmuth Brewery. In addition, the family maintained a small farm as was the custom at that time and area of the state. Her mother was a homemaker.
Elizabeth recalled the time when prisoners of war worked on the family farm during WWII. Her three brothers were drafted during the Korean War which left Betty (as she was known) and her four sisters to carry on the work of the farm, including milking the cows each morning before going off to school.
Betty’s education began with the Dominican Sisters at St. Michael’s, New Lothrop and continued at Maple Grove High School (where the Dominican Sisters taught under the public school system). She participated in many activities at school and lived life to the fullest, relishing the role of cheerleader for the sports teams and going to dances and movies with her friends. During her senior year, she felt a call to religious life but kept it a secret from her friends. Unable to quiet that inner voice, she made a visit to Grand Rapids to talk with Mother Victor, thinking she would be considered an inappropriate candidate. To her surprise she received a letter of acceptance. She entered the congregation in September 1953 and was received into the novitiate the following May and took the name Alphonsine after her father. She resumed using her baptismal name, Elizabeth, after Vatican II.
She was asked to become a nurse and trained at McAuley School of Nursing, Pontiac, Michigan, where she was certified as an LPN. After serving two years in the Marywood infirmary she was sent to Guadalupe General Hospital in Santa Rosa, New Mexico where she also began studies at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque to earn her RN certification and nursing license.
When the hospitals staffed by our sisters in the southwest closed, Sister Elizabeth became the first of our sister-nurses to work in a non-Catholic hospital, namely Blodgett Hospital in Grand Rapids, and later Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Sister Elizabeth then worked at Aquinata Hall for two years before accepting a position at St. Luke’s Health Care in Saginaw, Michigan for six years. Following a one-year sabbatical in Cincinnati, Ohio she worked as a visiting nurse in Saginaw with the Health Source Hospital. While in Saginaw she served on the health panel for those suffering from substance abuse and was involved as a sponsor for the RCIA program at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish.
After twelve years working in Behavioral Health in Saginaw, Sister Elizabeth became Administrative Assistant at Aquinata Hall. She served in the Marywood Health Center as Administrative Assistant and later as health ministry support for many years.
In an article, entitled The Power of One, published by the Vocation Office Sister Elizabeth wrote:
My daily ministry to the sick has been carried out in many ways and forms: labor and delivery rooms, the newborn nursery, emergency rooms, surgical floors, discharge planning, public health, behavioral medicine. Why am I involved in this ministry? I believe that today my ministry of healing is to recognize that God has called me by name to listen, to speak, to love, to open doors and to be a fragile instrument in helping others put their lives back together in new ways.
Elizabeth is remembered for her effervescent, magnetic personality. She was outgoing and made lasting friendships. She was never afraid to tackle a difficult job and always ready to go the extra mile. Her classmates remember her as a hard worker and good listener. Her hobbies and interests included music, films, and travel, as well as arts and crafts.
“Life has been blessed with an abundance of God’s love for me and a few challenges thrown in along the way,” she wrote. “I have trusted that God, who began a good work in me, will see it through to completion.”
She savored the words of Jeremiah 29: 11-14:
For I know well the plans I have for you,
Plans for your welfare, not for woe,
Plans to give you a future full of hope when you call upon me.
When you go to pray to me, I will listen to you.
When you look for me, you will find me with all your heart.
You will find me with you, says the Lord, and I will change your lot.
Early on her life’s journey, Elizabeth heard God’s call: “Come, Elizabeth, follow me as a nurse and I will give you the gift of healing.” Elizabeth followed that call and spent a lifetime in the healing ministry as a Dominican Sister.
Sister Elizabeth will be missed by family and friends and remembered with gratitude for her generous spirit.
Sister Elizabeth is survived by her sisters, Rita Narlock, Kate Potucek, Rosemary Heroux, & Grace (Jack) Gaser, many friends, and members of her Dominican community.