Charles O. "Chip" Bishop

MASHPEE - Charles O. "Chip" Bishop, 71, of Mashpee, formerly of West Dennis, MA, Arlington, VA and Woonsocket, RI, passed away August 5th of pancreatic cancer. He is predeceased by his parents Charles O. Bishop, Sr. and Eugenie Charon Bishop, both of RI. Chip is survived by his wife of 34 years, Jane, son Joseph and daughter-in-law Katherine-Ann, along with feline friends Benjamin and Sabrina.
A graduate of Woonsocket High School in 1963 and Boston University's School of Communications in 1967, Chip pursued a full-time radio career with WBZ Radio in Boston, MA in the early 1960s. He was part of the WBZ press team covering the Beatles arrival in the U.S. He also worked at WWON in Woonsocket for several years as a weekend D.J.
Chip served as Director of Hospital Information at Woonsocket Hospital (now Landmark Hospital) for 7 years, and was the youngest elected member of the Woonsocket City Council. He chose not to seek reelection with the council and instead joined the Jimmy Carter presidential campaign as an advance man for the East Coast.
Chip joined the winning Carter administration as a congressional liaison officer for the Amtrak NorthEast Corridor project at U.S. Department of Transportation for four years. He returned to the campaign trail as Maine State Coordinator for the Carter Reelection Committee and met Jane and her son Joseph; they married in 1981 in Washington, DC. Chip worked on Capitol Hill as a scheduler for Senator Christopher Dodd before going to American Public Transit Association as a lobbyist and communications director for 15 years.
He and his family moved to Cape Cod where he created a successful public relations and marketing company, Chip Bishop Communications and Management, which was founded in the downstairs office of their beloved 1775 sea captain's house. He was an advocate for car free travel and helped create the first car-free travel resource, the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce's Smart Guide, to help visitors and residents travel around his beloved Cape Cod with ease. He worked alongside Jane at the family bed and breakfast, Olde Wistaria House, on weekends for 6 years. Chip and Jane also founded Peak Season Workforce, an H2B seasonal staffing company.
An avid writer and researcher, Chip penned three books chronicling various members of the Roosevelt family. His books "The Lion and the Journalist, The Unlikely Friendship of Theodore Roosevelt and Joseph Bucklin Bishop" and "Quinten and Flora, A Roosevelt and a Vanderbilt in Love During the Great War" were released in 2011 and 2014 respectively. He completed his third and final book just before his passing. "A Tortured Soul, Elliott Roosevelt - Brother of a President, Father of a First Lady" (working title), is in editing, and will be published in 2017.
Chip was a member of the board of directors of the Biographers International Organization, the Advisory Board of the Theodore Roosevelt Association and the executive committee of its New England chapter.
His passion for music and records will live on through his donated collection as a permanent part of the Library of Congress archives. Chip's 8,000 records will be on display at the Library of Congress annex in Culpepper, Virginia.
A Celebration of Life service will be held on Saturday, August 27th with family greetings at 11 and service at 11:30 at Chapman, Cole and Gleason Funeral Home, 74 Algonquin Avenue, Mashpee, MA 02649, to be immediately followed with a wake at Oak & Ember Whiskey Bar & Grill, 36 South Street, Mashpee, MA 02649. Interment will be private.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the following organizations: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute-Gastrointestinal Cancers: Pancreatic Cancer (www.dana-farber.org), The Carter Center (www.cartercenter.org), and/or the Theodore Roosevelt Association Teddy Bear Program (www.theodoreroosevelt.org).
For the online guest book and directions, please visit www.ccgfuneralhome.com.