Adelaide White Bishop

Adelaide White Bishop of Virginia Beach, Va., beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend, left this life peacefully on September 10, 2025. She was 96.

Adelaide was born in Norfolk, Va., on March 3, 1929. The adored "Baby" of the family of William and Mary White, she grew up surrounded by the love of her parents and nine siblings. In her long life, she gave back that love in warmth, kindness and generosity to an ever-growing circle of family and friends. "The burden of life is love," she often said, but she always carried that burden lightly. Adelaide's devotion to her large family has been an inspiration to her children and to her children's children, clear to see in the shared care and affection of those generations.

Baptized and confirmed at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Norfolk, she was married there to Thomas E. Bishop Jr. in 1950. Adelaide and Tommy shared joy, laughter, adversity and a deep love for 55 years until his death in 2006. They raised their six children at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Norfolk and in her later years Adelaide was a member of Holy Family Catholic Church in Virginia Beach. The character of her faith is expressed in her sole request that her memorial include the Beatitudes and the communion hymn "Ave Verum Corpus."

By her own example, Adelaide taught her children to appreciate life and beauty in many forms - music, art, nature, and design. They saw her pause and take in the wonder of a changing sky, the color and fragrance of flowers, or the play of light and shadow on the ocean. She showed them the joy of singing (and humming!), always listening to music and sometimes dancing carefree with their friends in the kitchen. Her homes displayed a love of style (as long as the colors didn't "fight") and allowed for the mostly joyful disorder of children and grandchildren. Her taste for fashion highlighted her personal beauty from girlhood to seniority.

Adelaide's lifelong energy and enthusiasm for work and play - such as cycling with the family into her 80s - lived up to the nickname "Go-Go," as she was affectionately known to her grandchildren.

Music was ever present in Adelaide's life. She loved and had an encyclopedic recall of the Great American Songbook and many of the shows and movies in which those songs were featured. She knew and enjoyed so many songs, musicians, movies and actors of that period that choosing favorites would be impossible. But she had a special fondness for "My Funny Valentine" and "On Green Dolphin Street." She appreciated many jazz artists, including Bill Evans and Ray Brown, and especially singers, such as Tony Bennett and Ella Fitzgerald. Her friends included many musicians in the Norfolk jazz scene, in which Tommy played upright bass after his daily work in the international shipping business. Their kids recall that the Bishop kitchen hosted late-night eggs and coffee after the musicians finished a job. A regular audience member of the Virginia Symphony, in which her son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter performed, Adelaide recognized and prized a broad range of classical music. Her musical taste was not fixed or limited, though. She could always hear the appeal of - and listen to, dance to or sing along with - the music her children brought into the house.

Throughout her life, Adelaide's warm manner and genuine interest welcomed people of all ages and places. A family friend who knew her for decades captured that spirit perfectly: "Adelaide was the source of a steady, clear, deep down joy. She was kind and loving to me always - every time, every encounter. And isn't that a miracle?"

Adelaide White Bishop was predeceased by her husband, Thomas E. Bishop Jr., and her son, Thomas E. (Tim) Bishop III. Remaining to cherish her memory are her daughters Betsy Gates (Ernie) of Williamsburg, Va., Susan Zirpoli (Tom) of Westminster, Md., and Laura Rupp (Chris) of Virginia Beach, Va.; sons Paul Bishop and David Bishop, both of Norfolk, Va.; daughter-in-law Lesa McCoy of Virginia Beach; grandchildren Sarah Gates Haendler (Alanna) of Newport News, Va., Martha Callaghan (Brian) of Richmond, Va., Thomas Gates (Kara) of Richmond, Christopher Zirpoli (Rachel Carr) of Annapolis, Md., Julia Zirpoli (Adam Schuman) of Baltimore, Md., Anna Bishop of Richmond, Tyler Rupp (Danielle Hollenbeck) of Jacksonville, Fla., Jeremy Rupp (Skye Wroblewski) of Virginia Beach, and Ethan Rupp of Virginia Beach; great-grandchildren Adelaide, Evelyn and William Gates of Richmond, Ben Callaghan of Richmond, Josephine Randazzo of Richmond, Cole Zirpoli of Baltimore, Anthony Zirpoli of Annapolis, and Venus Rupp of Virginia Beach; and many other extended family members, friends and neighbors. The family will host a memorial at 2 p.m. Saturday, October 4, 2025, at H.D. Oliver Funeral Apts., Norfolk Chapel (1501 Colonial Avenue, Norfolk, VA 23517).