REV. RICKY BISHOP's Obituary
WARNER ROBINS –
Reverend Richard Marshall “Ricky” Bishop, 76, went home to be with his Lord and Savior on Tuesday, March 19, 2024. Services will be held on Monday, March 25, 2024, at First United Methodist Church of Warner Robins, with the Visitation from 10:00 until 11:00 a.m. and the Funeral Service at 11:00 a.m. Reverend Jon Brown and Reverend Tommy Martin will be officiating. Interment will be on Monday, March 25, 2024, at 3:00 p.m. in Bethany Church of Ellabell Cemetery, formerly Ellabell United Methodist Church Cemetery, 2079 GA Hwy 204, Ellabell, Georgia. In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests memorial contributions to Magnolia Manor, 200 Pierce Avenue, Macon, Georgia 31204.
Ricky was born on March 3, 1948, in Fort Valley, and grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. He graduated from Hume-Fogg Technical High School. He met Reba Stewart in 1969, and the couple married in 1970. In September of 1970 Ricky was convinced by his landlord, a Nazarene preacher, to attend church one time with the agreement that he would not return if he didn’t feel the need. The Lord is good and at the end of the service, Ricky laid his sins at the altar, accepted God’s free gift of grace, gave his life to the Lord, and never looked back. Having made that life-changing decision, he felt called to enter the ministry and earned his Bachelor’s degree from Emmanuel Bible College and Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville. Reverend Bishop began serving as an ordained elder in the South Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church in 1990 and pastored at numerous United Methodist Churches in Georgia through the years. He earned his Master’s degree at Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta. Reverend Bishop served as a trauma chaplain at Savannah Memorial Hospital for years. He retired from the South GA Conference in 2009.
Ricky knew a life of sin before he met Christ, and subsequently had a deeper understanding of God’s free grace. His gift in ministry was pastoral care. Reverend Bishop was known for helping anyone who was in need. In fact, he gave away their entire Thanksgiving dinner to an unknown man who appeared at their door just as his family was sitting down to eat. Minutes later, a family of church friends called and invited the Bishops to Thanksgiving dinner at their house. He believed that God would always provide. So, he never resisted and would give the shirt off of his back and the shoes from his feet if someone was in need.
A loving and giving Daddy and Granddaddy, he enjoyed tinkering around the house, gardening, and figuring out how things worked. He was always ahead of technology and was thrilled to have dial-up internet in his home long before it was readily available to the general public. He dreamed big dreams, loved big, and enjoyed spreading joy everywhere he went.
Ricky was a husband, father, grandfather, son, brother, uncle, pastor, chaplain, Mason, and friend. But most of all, Ricky was a child of God.
He was preceded in death by his loving and devoted wife of twenty-two years and the mother of his children, Reba Stewart Bishop; his parents, Karl and Joy Bishop; his mother-in-law, Lucille Stewart; and his two brothers, Barry Bishop and Bruce Bishop.
Left to cherish the memories they made with Ricky are his caring wife of twenty-nine years, Carlene Stephenson Bishop; his daughters, Gracie Bishop of California, Joann Price (Terry) of Warner Robins, and Reverend Jamie Hill (James) of Kathleen; his granddaughters, Maryanna Price and Kiley Hill; his step-daughter, Laurie Patterson (Mitch) of Saltillo, Mississippi; his three sisters, Pamela Bishop, Peggy Bishop, and Becky Howarth; his brother in Christ, Sam Watkins; and many nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews.
Condolences for the family may be left in the online guestbook at www.watsonhunt.com. Watson-Hunt Funeral Home has been entrusted with the arrangements.
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