Robert Choate Bischoff

1947 - 2019

Longtime Eagle River, Alaska, resident Robert "Buff" Bischoff, 72, died due to a long illness of Crohn's disease on Nov. 21, 2019, at Providence Medical Center, with his family at his side.
He was born on March 8, 1947, in Portsmouth, N.H., the son of J.A. Raoul Bischoff and Dorothy (Spiller) Bischoff. He graduated High School in 1965 at the Tilton School in New Hampshire. He was an Eagle Scout. Buff moved to Alaska in the early '70s, and knew that he had found his home. He lived in Juneau for a year and then moved to Anchorage. He became a journeyman carpenter through the Anchorage Carpenters Union, Local 1281. His career spanned from the TAPS Valdez Marine Terminal, to building housing in multiple small Alaska Native communities, to heavy construction jobs in and around Anchorage. He was a Master Carpenter. He had the spirit of so many Alaskans; He loved flying, hunting, skiing, snow machining, fishing, boating, photography, hiking, beekeeping, being in the outdoors - all things Alaska. He traveled the world. His passion was spending time with family, friends and dogs at the cabin he built on Benka Lake near Talkeetna. He enjoyed 17 years of sobriety due to his fellowship with AA.
He is survived by his wife of 36 years, Diane (Tschinkel) Bischoff; daughter, Danielle Bischoff; son, Robert Bischoff; granddaughter, Miriam Fay; brother, Peter Bischoff; cousin, Dina (Bischoff) Bock and her husband Peter Bock and their son Adam Bock; multiple cousins on his mother's side, Spiller family; and multiple family members on his wife's side.
His ashes will be in interred in a niche in the columbarium wall at the Anchorage Cemetery.
A memorial will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2019, at Evergreens Eagle River Funeral Home. A celebration of life will follow from 2 p.m. - 4 p.m., at Chepo's Mexican Restaurant in Eagle River.