You may know also him as “Will”, “Willy” or “Mr. Bishop” but I’ve called my dear friend Bill for 42 years. I’m compelled and sadly inspired to write this in the passing of my very close friend knowing I will not be able to see his face or hear his voice now that he is with the Lord. Bill and I have known each other and STAYED close ever since our mothers drove us around before we got our driver’s licenses at age 15. We went to trade school and graduated High School together where we learned our trades which has done very well for the both of us. Bill grew up without a father but Mrs. Bishop (Bill’s mom) did an exceptional job raising her children and keeping both Bill and I “in-line”. Bill also did spend a lot of time fishing with his grandfather when we were in high school while it lasted. I also remember Mrs. Bishop making us great ethnic food before we went hanging out somewhere as well. Bill was very dedicated to also taking care of his mother as he got older and more than ever up to and including his final day. Bill and I had a very close circle of friends in our younger years and won’t go into detail what it was like living in Connecticut and near NYC in the 70s so use your imagination. Many great times, great moments with great people. I have been blessed with many close and wonderful friends in my lifetime and still think of my high school friends all of the time and pray they are all well (Even though I’ve turned into a recluse in my retirement years) but Bill is the oldest close friend I have and still have in my heart. Even in High School, Bill always kept telling me how he was going to live somewhere in the Cape and he never took his eyes off that goal / dream. The first good impression I had of Bill making sure this dream was to come true was when he constantly made flyers and put them on the parking lot windshields in trying to establish his construction business before he was twenty. Bill and I also were passengers in a VERY BAD car accident together at 21 and feel we were given a second chance and we better make the best of it. And we did. Later on, Bill’s dedicated attitude which did have some strong self convictions at times was now focused on Donna, settling down in or near the cape to start a family and he never looked back. I still remember how fulfilled and humbly gloating he was when he purchased his property on the Vineyard and I was very happy for him knowing how long he worked for this for all those years. I also want to mention his work ethics were always very self demanding to his clients. Time of completion, quality of work, cost etc. was always something he gave his best. I too am / was a workaholic and know one when I see one. His business projects no matter how big or how small for all these decades to me are now legacies of how hard he worked for his mom, his wife Donna and his two sons Willy and Jimmy and the people he did his “work” for. His battle with cancer was agonizingly painful because of the type and location of the cancer and he still “fought on” for all of the above mentioned people. I truly miss him and have a huge hole in my heart in his passing and pray for his spirit in the presence of God but God already knows how great of a person Bill was, has been and will always be in our hearts and truly hope I again can see him, talk to him and reminisce the exceptional lives we had with such exceptional people. I know the Vineyard community has known the Bishop family for many years and are blessed with having them in their community but Bill’s loss is a huge loss and hopefully the legacy of “the good” he and his family continue to do there will always be remembered. We love you Bill and God willing, hope and pray we can all laugh together again someday, Jerry

I am an architect and I work with Bill back in the late 80s outside of Chappaqua Westchester. At that time he told me that he was moving to Martha's Vineyard and I was very jealous. I always thought that when I came out to the Cape I would reach out and some 30 years later I did to find out that he had passed. I am so sorry to hear that and express my condolences to his family friends and colleagues.