Some may measure legacy by acres, others measure legacy by giving back to the community. For Bob and Waneta Bishop, their legacy has always been both.
Long before GPS-guided tractors, drones surveyed the fields, or combines sent harvest data to a computer, there was a little boy following his father through the fields west of Leesburg with grease on his face and dirt on his boots. There was a farm girl from Claypool carrying buckets of milk to the pigs, driving tractors before she was old enough to drive a car, and learning that hard work wasn’t something you chose. It was simply a way of life.
Neither could have imagined that a first date to the Goshen movie theatre to watch the Beach Party would become a partnership spanning nearly six decades. Those years included three children, Sonja, Jim, and Mike, seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
Together, they have weathered seasons of abundance and celebrated harvests by wintering in Florida. They have also mourned the heartbreaking loss of their youngest son, Mike. Through it all, they maintain, “the good Lord has been good.”
The Bishop family has farmed the same land since 1833. Today, Bob is the seventh generation to steward the 1,500 acres … a responsibility he never viewed as ownership, but as a calling. “I always hoped to take over the family farm,” Bob shared. “It was never a question.”
Bob taught elementary students for sixteen years before returning to the farm full time. He was awarded the Kosciusko Chamber 2018 Man of the Year, he coached and mentored, led the Indiana Beef Cattle Association, served on many boards including the Indiana State Fair, Farm Bureau, Plain Township, Grace College Board of Trustees, Lions Club, 4-H, the Kosciusko County Community Foundation, and countless other organizations. His guiding philosophy, passed down from his father, has remained simple: “You’ll get out of your community what you put into it. Give back more than what you get.”
Waneta, retiring from Zimmer in 1998, has quietly lived that same philosophy. Whether serving as financial treasurer for her church, opening their home for fellowship, serving meals in the fields to those farming, or standing beside Bob through decades of community leadership, she has proven that some of the strongest leaders rarely seek the spotlight.
When Bob and Waneta established charitable funds at the Community Foundation, they were investing in generations they may never meet. From their passion of agriculture leadership and youth opportunities, to supporting nonprofits, they hope their story reminds others that every person has the opportunity to leave something meaningful behind.
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