Patrick "Ian" Ian Arthur Bishop's Obituary
Patrick Ian Arthur Bishop “Ian” (1982-2023)
The brightest eyes. The best laugh. The biggest heart. Patrick Ian Arthur Bishop (41) of Sandy, Utah left this world on December 5, 2023.
He was born on May 19, 1982 to parents Arthur Lee Bishop III and Camellia Teresa Kipping Springer Bishop, who saw past his symptoms and into his soul. These past few years of difficult mental decline were met especially with fierce loyalty and care by our angel mother and her kind husband, Jim Calaway.
Mom remembers Ian as a toddler sitting by her side and patting her for comfort during months of illness due to pregnancy. That was Ian. If you were ever at a low point, he would empathize and then lift you up by telling you how wonderful or beautiful you were and that all would be well.
His bright eyes literally twinkled with fun as he and his five siblings were growing up, and as he was growing- well anything, really. His mother called him her “modern day Johnny Appleseed,” and every time you visited the house, his eyes would light up, and he would say, “come look at what I planted.” If you were in his life, you can likely look around your home and find something Ian planted. This led perfectly to his work in landscape design/care and repeat customers who called him annually to “begin again.” It is fitting he was born at the official beginning of springtime when everything comes to life, aided by people like Ian who consistently and carefully replenish the earth.
His laugh was, hands down, the best in the family. He was a godsend to parents and us five siblings who tend to take ourselves a bit too seriously. He dragged us out of a dull existence. He insisted on it with his hearty laugh, crazy hats, and hilarious random gifts-given especially to our serious dad who had no idea how to respond to his crazy antics, but who also was the beneficiary of Ian’s care in the last years of his life. While Dad was bedridden and strengthless, Ian helped our mom do the heavy lifting as well as the endless tiny, tactile tasks that persist with adult caretaking. We owed Ian big-time for that and fell short in expressing adequate gratitude. Still, he persisted, loyally and unflinchingly to the end.
Ian’s heart was the biggest, most generous, least judgmental one for miles around. He had so little yet always gave so much. Most of the money he made throughout his life was spent buying gifts for others, especially his brothers and sisters and their kids. He loved them, and they rarely left his presence empty handed-sometimes with those random funny surprises, but often with something beautiful and heartfelt and unendingly thoughtful and touching. But the biggest gift he gave to all of us was his music. He had “a beautiful mind” that showed musical brilliance. He could listen to a song on the radio and sit down and play it by ear. He wrote and played, wrote and sang, wrote and played some more. He was an artist, drawn to the piano and the garden which, in turn, encircled our lives with music and beauty.
His bright eyes, hearty laughter and big, generous heart were choices- daily choices that masked and paralleled incalculable pain from depression and loneliness - and ultimately a serious cognitive degenerative diagnosis that none of us predicted or understood.
Yet, ironically, Ian, you lifted all of us up and out of the mortal muck, time and time again. Go with God now, and Dad, and Grandma and Grandpa, and Aunt Jean. The sky has finally opened. The rain and wind stopped blowing. Let go of your umbrella and fly.
The life of the party has left the premises. Heaven better get ready to rock and roll.
Ian is survived by his Mother Camie (Jim,) his sisters Cindy (Ted) and Ceri (Brooks) and his brothers Ari (Catherine,) Joseph (Shemmah,) and Walter. And nieces and nephews who stand ready to pick up the playful, party torch. The baton has been passed…
Services are Saturday December 16th at The Quail Run Church
9245 S. Quail Run Dr. Sandy, UT 84062
Public viewing 10:30-10:50 AM
Memorial Service 11:00 AM
Internment
Elysian Gardens
1075 E 4580 S
Millcreek, UT 84117
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