Robert Bruce Bishop

May 5, 1935 - January 19, 2019

Robert Bruce Bishop completed his life at home in Foster City surrounded by family on January 19, 2019, after a yearlong battle with esophageal cancer. Bruce graduated from U.C. Berkeley with a degree in business administration in 1957, married Berkeley native Alice London in 1958, and made his career as a merchant. Following management positions with The Emporium in San Francisco, he went into business for himself with the 1968 purchase of Yarbro’s Stationery at Hillsdale Mall in San Mateo. Yarbro’s was the first of several stationery and office supply stores that would constitute a family business based on the Peninsula that he ran until 1994, before turning it over to his son, Bob Bishop, and daughter, Gail Welter.

A profoundly kind-hearted man with a competitive spirit, Bruce was a regular tennis player, and, during his retirement, an avid bridge player. He enjoyed working with wood and stained glass. He also loved to be outdoors, tending his garden or driving a tractor on his property in Pescadero. He was a longtime member of College Heights Church in San Mateo. The second of three children of William and Harriette Woollett Bishop, Bruce was born on May 5, 1935 in Sacramento, where he spent most of his childhood. His work life began early, with jobs ranging from watering lawns and delivering newspapers to ordering supplies for airplanes at McClellan Air Force Base. After graduating from McClatchy High School in Sacramento in 1953, he worked as a switchman for the railroad in Roseville—one of his alltime favorite jobs—before enrolling at U.C. Berkeley.

Bruce is survived by his loving wife of 60 years, Alice London Bishop; his children Robert (Bob) Bruce Bishop Jr. (Laurie) of San Carlos, Janet Bishop (Thad Povey) of San Francisco, and Gail Bishop Welter (Steve) of Belmont; his grandchildren Spencer Bishop, Kendall Bishop, Isabel Povey, Carrie Welter, and Colin Welter; and his sister Bonnie Bjerre of Orinda.

A memorial is scheduled for Saturday, February 9. The family suggests that donations in his memory may be made to the American Cancer Society.