Eleanor Villarreal wondered aloud what adjectives she would use
to describe Vallie Bishop. She could have gone on for days.
Eleanor Villarreal wondered aloud what adjectives she would use to describe Vallie Bishop. She could have gone on for days.
“Exotically beautiful, generous – both with her time and her finances – intelligent, witty, funny …” Villarreal said. “She was wittier than most comedians I saw. And she didn’t have to use the four-letter words.”
Bishop, who loved children, her husband and an abundance of friends, passed away Saturday after a two-year battle with colon cancer at the age of 57.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Sunday, March 27 at the Johnson Funeral Home in Morgan Hill.
Bishop, the former owner of Gavilan Honda – she sold her business to Gilroy Honda in 2005 – and a longtime supporter of family resource center Rebekah Children’s Services, made a wealth of friends in Gilroy, Morgan Hill and San Benito County through her business and volunteer efforts, friends said.
For 18 years, she served Rebekah Children’s Services as vice chair of its community advisory board and often had a hand in planning the organization’s Festival of Trees, an annual holiday fundraiser.
Morgan Hill resident Deborah Rogers said she and Bishop alternated as chair and co-chair of the Festival of Trees for eight years. She said Bishop was “extremely professional,” and was always focused on the event’s intent.
“Everything was for the kids,” Rogers said of the Rebekah Children’s Services fundraiser.
Rogers had no idea just how much money Bishop had contributed to Rebekah Children’s Services, but said, “I know it was a lot.”
Bishop also donated her time, Rogers said.
She sold lavender she grew on her ranch in the Paicines region of San Benito County to fund large barbecues for board members, staff and children at the services center, Rogers said.
“She never had any children of her own, but she always wanted to help children,” Villarreal said.
In 2002, Bishop included Rebekah Children’s Services in her estate planning through the nonprofit’s Leave a Legacy program.
Roy Melendez, director of development and community for Rebekah Children’s Services, said Bishop’s donation amount was confidential per her request.
“We can definitely say she was a strong supporter of RCS,” Melendez said.
Mary Kaye Gerski, Rebekah executive director, said the organization was deeply saddened to hear of Bishop’s passing.
“We feel a tremendous loss with her passing,” Gerski said. “She just had a passion for helping kids and helping her community.”
In 2008, Bishop helped Friends of the San Benito County Free Library earn $2,000 through a “Stock the Bookmobile” campaign.
Whether it was time or cash, Bishop always donated with purpose, Gerski said.
“She just loved knowing she was turning people’s lives around,” she said.
Bishop’s husband, Rich Devlin, agreed.
“Vallie was very special to a lot of people,” he wrote in an e-mail.
Bishop also put up her feet where she left her mark.
She once lived on Princevalle Street in Gilroy and later in a townhouse in Morgan Hill. When she was looking for solace, she made her way to her Paicines ranch. One day, Villarreal recalled, Bishop decided she would stop driving, even though she still owned the car dealership. She kept her no-driving vow even while living in her more rural abodes.
“She’d have these whims,” Villarreal laughed.
She was also never one to skimp on holiday festivities.
Every Halloween, Bishop would adorn colorful, elaborate costumes, often causing friends and guests to not recognize her as she walked in.
Some of her costumes included “Neptune’s Runaway Bride” and ” Doris Day’s Evil Twin Sister.” Every year, she’d try to outdo herself, Villarreal said.
“She was so fun. She always had ideas,” she said.
She’d even travel around town, surprising friends and unsuspecting children at the resource center with Halloween candy, Villarreal said.
Bishop sought fun, but everything she did was for the enjoyment or betterment of those around her, Gerski said.
“I think of Vallie as being a very selfless person,” she said. “She was always thinking of others.”
Memorial Service
– 11 a.m. Sunday,
March 27, Johnson Funeral Home, Morgan Hill
– Donations in Bishop’s name can be made to Rebekah Children’s Services, 290 IOOF Ave., Gilroy, CA 95020
