Linton Hines Bishop Jr.

linton bishop jr.

April 19, 1924 ~ December 10, 2014


Resided in: Atlanta, GA

Linton Hines Bishop, Jr. was born April 19, 1924 in Unadilla, Georgia, the third child and only son of Dr. Linton Hines Bishop and Alma Hearn Bishop. Linton began preparing for his life’s work as a very young child, going with his father as he treated the people of Dooley County, even assisting him by his teen years. During high school his baseball play attracted the attention of a minor league scout, but college won out and after graduating in 1941 as valedictorian he entered the University of Georgia on an academic scholarship. At UGA he joined Sigma Chi fraternity and Demosthenian Debate Society and loyally supported the Bulldogs, only giving up his 50 yard line seats when he no longer could walk to Sanford Stadium. Sunday, December 7, 1941 he was playing cards in his dormitory when news of the tragedy at Pearl Harbor came. He always joked that his mother called saying, “Don’t volunteer and don’t get tattooed.” He joined the Navy V-12 program and was accepted by Emory University’s Medical School from which his father had graduated in 1908 when it was still Atlanta College of Physicians and Surgeons. Prize possessions were photographs of his father with his class in front of the old Grady Hospital and making house calls on a horse.

Upon graduating Emory in 1947, he secured an internship on the Harvard service at the Boston City Hospital where he loved to tell he was paid $1.00 for the year. Knowing he wanted to practice in the South, he returned to Grady for the remainder of his training. 1948 brought two life-changing events. He was selected by Dr. Bruce Logue for Emory’s first Fellowship in Cardiology and, on a blind date, he met June Rowan, a second grade teacher at Druid Hills School. They were married June 23, 1950 just before Linton became chief resident at Grady. Once again war changed his plans as the Korean conflict began on June 25 ? and he was recalled to active Navy duty. His training in Cardiology secured an assignment to the Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland where their first child, Ann, was born. In 1952 Linton returned to complete his residency at Grady after which he opened a small office on Ponce de Leon Avenue with his classmate, Tom Anderson, for the practice of Internal Medicine and Cardiology. They were later joined by Dr. Dan Hankey and Dr. Joe Wilson. Early in his practice he narrowed his hospital use to Emory’s Crawford Long now Emory Midtown, working to improve and expand it. Eventually, with the support of his devoted friend Wilton Looney and the family of Carlyle Fraser, Wilton’s mentor, the Fraser Heart Center was established, making heart surgery procedures available in Atlanta. The center has become one of the country’s leading cardiac treatment and research facilities.

Linton began to take leadership roles in the medical community as a junior member of the Board of Trustees of the then Fulton County Medical Society, later becoming its president. The Society awarded him the Aven Cup, signifying outstanding service to his community partially in recognition of his organizing the first mass immunizations against polio. He also served as an officer in the Southern Medical Association. One of his proudest moments was being elected to the Board of Trustees for Emory University. He served Emory as Chair of the Student Affairs Committee for many years during which time he was elected as an alumni member of AOA Medical Honor Society and ODK Service Fraternity and received the coveted Emory Medal in recognition of his service to the University and community. His generosity and the generosity of friends are responsible for two named professorships at Emory Medical School, and two Fellowships in Genetics at the University of Georgia. Being many-faceted, he was asked to preach the Layman’s Day sermons in four churches in the North Georgia Conference of the Methodist Church. His devoted office manager, Marthelle Cherry, said he was the only doctor she had ever known who had an office file labelled “Sermons”. Linton loved his family, his patients, the church and his country. While in the hospital last Sunday, December 7, he asked that his Navy officer’s cap be brought so he could remind people of Pearl Harbor. His family will treasure the smiling picture of him wearing it . His happiest times outside of work were spent tending his large garden on his John Deere tractor, often with a grandchild riding in front, or playing tennis with friends.

Dr. Bishop was predeceased by his sisters, Helen Bishop Kelley and her husband Weddington of Atlanta, and Martha Bishop Coolidge and her husband, Hermann Coolidge of Savannah, and his grandsons, Tucker Rowan Bishop and John Miller Conn, Jr.. He is survived by his adoring wife and true life partner of 64 years, June Rowan Bishop, his children, Ann Baird Bishop, Linton Hines Bishop, III Sara, Andrew Rowan Bishop Jane and June Kelley Bishop Seiler John, grandchildren, June Conn Bachmann Andrew, Sarah Bishop Anderson Blake, Erin Whitelaw Bishop, Linton Andrew Bishop, Rowan Madeline Bishop, John Gray Seiler, IV, Stuart Bishop Seiler, Virginia Linton Seiler, and William Kelley Seiler, four great-grandchildren, Alyssa Gross, Dylan Conn, Lillian and Nathan Bachmann, and Blake John Anderson, Jr.. The family is grateful for four years of dependable and compassionate care given him by Hendrix Mumba.

A Memorial service will be held at Trinity Presbyterian Church on Friday, December 12, 2014 at 2:00 pm. Visitation for family and friends on Thursday, December 11 at 6:00 pm will be at the home of June and John Seiler, 1500 Peachtree Battle Ave NW, Atlanta, GA, 30327.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Global Health Action, P.O. Box 15086, Atlanta, GA, 30333, or a charity of your choice.

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