Terry Bishop

Services to celebrate the life of Dr. Terry Neal Bishop will be held in Killeen, Texas at the Church of Christ located at 400 North W. S. Young Drive at 10:00AM, on Friday, August 25, 2017, followed by a short graveside ceremony at the City of Killeen Cemetery.

Dr. Terry Neal Bishop, Superintendent of Pritchett School District RE3. Colorado Springs School District 11, and Austin ISD was born November 16, 1942,and died August 15, 2017, of prostate cancer, in Colorado Springs. As a young man, Terry was baptized and became a member of the Second Street Church of Christ in Killeen, Texas. Terry was also a graduate of Killeen High School in 1961, where he was honored as High Boy in his class, played basketball and tennis on teams that went to state all four years, held positions of leadership in NHS and Student Council, as well as other organizations, and was honored by both his classmates, administrators, and teachers not only for academic and athletic achievements, but also for his friendly, and engaging personality which made him popular with classmates, friends, family, and everyone he met, throughout his lifetime.

After high school, Terry went on to Baylor University and Abilene Christian University where he received his B.S. and Texas Lifetime Teacher Certification in math and social studies from Abilene Christian University in 1965. While teaching math and history, and coaching tennis at Abilene High School, Terry continued his education, and earned his master's degree from Abilene Christian University in Education Administration in 1966. That same year, Terry was awarded a Fellowship from the University of Texas to work on his doctorate in education. He and his advising professor, Dr.Wailand Bessant, pioneered the use of computer programming applied to school planning in the areas of predicting student enrollment and financial planning in the early seventies. They consulted all over the United States as well as Columbia, South America and Mexico in American schools. Even before receiving his PhD in Education in 1975, Terry went on to work for Austin Independent School District from 1972-1994, holding positions from Director of Planning and Programming, to Associate, Assistant, and Deputy Superintendents, culminating in his final position as Superintendent of AISD from 1993 through 1994. He then served as Deputy Superintendent in Round Rock ISD from 1995-1997. After that, Terry was asked to apply for the Chief Information Officer's position in Colorado Springs School District 11 to implement a five-year bond issue to bring computer technology into the district. When the technology project was completed, Dr. Bishop went on to be Deputy Superintendent, and then Superintendent of Colorado Springs School District 11 from 2006-2009. After retiring from District 11, Terry took a position as Executive Director of Colorado Online Learning from 2009-2016, which provided long-distance and online courses for all 180 school districts in the state of Colorado. Finally, Dr. Bishop was Superintendent in Pritchett K-12 School District in rural, southeastern Colorado from 2015-2017 which he enjoyed immensely even as his health declined.

During his distinguished career of over 50 years in education, Dr. Bishop focused on providing the best possible education for all students through the integration of technology, whether at the administrative level, teaching level, student level in labs, classrooms, or at home, using room sized computers to small, personal Ipads or Chromebooks. Terry never believed that "one size fits all students," and he knew way back from his pioneer days in the UT doctoral program that computers and technology were going to be part of the future for students, administrators, and teachers. He was an inspirational teacher and administrator, as well as a true visionary and mathematical genius, spending his life melding two fields, education and computer technology, into a dynamic educational paradigm for current and future students.

Dr. Bishop received many awards and honors throughout his illustrious and highly recognized career, including being part of the American Education Delegation to China, to which only three hundred educators were invited, in 2010. However, the honor he seemed to cherish most was a plaque from the Pritchett School Board, staff, and students for his over 50 years of service in the field of education. He spent his entire life doing what he loved most, working with administrative colleagues and teachers to elevate every student's public education experience.

Dr. Bishop is preceded in death by his father, Clifford Andrew Bishop, his mother, Wilma Riley Bishop, and many aunts, uncles, and cousins.Survivors include his wife of 49 years, Barbara Gill Bishop; sons Clifford Bishop and Kevin Bishop, grandson Andrew Bishop, and many cousins and friends throughout the country. Because of his "down home" charm and way with telling stories and making friends, many thought of Terry as the "Will Rogers of Education and Tennis," two areas of endeavor he loved the most. In addition to being a gentle, generous, and devoted husband, father, and grandfather, he was an exceptional, "one of a kind" human being whom we have been blessed to know and love for seventy-four years, and he will be missed more than words can express.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions for collegiate or vocational scholarships for students of Pritchett School, Colorado Springs D11, or Austin ISD may be made to the Dr. Terry N. Bishop Memorial Scholarship Fund, at any Wells Fargo Bank.

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