Ninth Generation (Continued)
Marie Louise Bishop (Gertrude Louise Hiltz8, Thomas Edward7, James Edmund6, Alexander5, Johannes Benjamin4, Rebecca Magdalena Lantz3, Johann Heinrich2, Michael1).
Born on 13 Sep 1929 in Windham, Windham Co., Connecticut, U.S.A.210 Marie Louise died in Kentville, Kings Co., Nova Scotia, Canada, on 26 Jul 2011; she was 81.210 Buried on 1 Aug 2011 in Steam Mill Village, Kings Co., Nova Scotia, Canada.210 She was never married.
Marie Bishop was a long time member of the Nova Scotia Craftsmen's Guild. She was a past participant in provincial exhibits staged by the Nova Scotia Festival of Arts. This was her career until the mid 1970s when arthritis in her hands made it difficult for her to continue sewing. Marie Bishop devoted her life, and considerable abilities, to her community.
Having contract polio as a child, she was a member of the Canadian Paraplegic Association for 60 years and was a strong voice for access, resources and changing public perception about the disabled. She was a member of the Annapolis Valley Stamp Club, using stamps as a vehicle to fund raise for her chosen charities. She fund raised for the Flower Cart Society for 30 years, earning them over $15,000. They made her an Honorary Society Member in 2001. She also fund raised for the IWK Hospital in Halifax, Nova Scotia since 1980.
Marie Bishop was a founding member of the Minas 50 Plus Senior Citizen's Club. She was a supporter of the Aldershot Elementary School, New Minas Elementary School and the Kings County S.P.C.A. She and her parents were great friends to the residents of Evergreen Home for Special Care, Kings Regional Rehabilitation Centre and Grand View Manor in Kentville, Nova Scotia, providing Christmas gift baskets to residents without family support for over 50 years. Marie continued this practice, financed by her own means, right up to this past Christmas of 2010.
Marie Bishop had a great interest in history and authored several publications including the Hiltz Family of Nova Scotia – a Foreign Protestant Family in 1984 and Tangled Roots – Descendants of John Bishop (1709-1785) of Horton, Nova Scotia, A New England Planter Family, published by the Bishop Family Association in 1990 (Marie was a major researcher and compiler of Genealogy for this publication). She also played a role in the publication of Minas 50 Plus Senior's Citizen's Club – co-authored unpublished manuscript in 1991, The Pioneers of Canaan – Kings County, Nova Scotia, researched and compiled by Marie Bishop and published by Kings Historical Society in 1994 and Memories of Coldbrook – Nova Scotia, researched and compiled by Marie and published by Kings Historical Society in 1999. She left a lifetime's compilation of scrapbooks and papers that are invaluable to historians. She earned many awards over the years including the 125th Anniversary Confederation Medal from the Government of Canada and the Dr. Phyllis R. Blakely Lifetime Achievement Award presented to a person who has been outstanding in the promotion, development and preservation of Nova Scotian heritage for a period of not less than 30 years. She received numerous volunteer awards from the province of Nova Scotia, Municipality of Kings, Village of New Minas and organizations including the Flower Cart, New Minas Volunteer Fire Department, Kings Regional Rehabilitation Centre, I.O.D.E, New Minas Lions Club, Minas 50 Plus Senior Citizen’s Club and the Town of Kentville.210