Growing up in Ohio, John “Jack” Bishop lived for football, basketball, baseball and a girl named Diane.
“If he wasn’t home, we didn’t worry,” recalled Bishop’s father, Don Bishop, 68. “We knew he was with his sweetheart.”
Bishop married that girl, and it was Diane Bishop who calmly called her in-laws early Sunday morning to tell them the awful news.
“She said, ‘We have a situation here.’ And then she went on to tell us that Jack had been shot but that he’s all right,” Bishop’s mother, Anna, 67, said from their family home, the same three-bedroom ranch where Bishop grew up. “But then she told us that Donnie, his partner, had been killed, and she had to leave the phone for a few minutes.”
Bishop, 35, continues to recover from the ambush that took the life of Donald “Donnie” Young and left Bishop with deep bruises, protected from the shot aimed at his back by a bulletproof vest. He has not been available for interviews.
Jack Bishop’s parents always figured their eldest son would follow in his banker father’s footsteps. But his commitment to police work has proved to be just as steadfast as his devotion to his high school sweetheart, his family said Wednesday.
“It seemed that’s what he’s destined to do,” Anna Bishop said.
His choice of criminal justice at first surprised his brother, who now lives in Kentucky.
“He was the kid that when we got home late from somewhere, he was afraid to go in if it was dark,” recalled Ric Bishop, 33, with a laugh.
Yet Jack Bishop, the restless brother who was always on the go, started his law-enforcement career and immediately began to move up.
He married Diane after college, and the couple moved to Colorado to be close to her family, where Jack continued his love of sports by skiing. He also began to work for the Denver Sheriff’s Department at the jail.
Soon he became a patrol officer for the Denver Police Department and then was promoted to detective.
Now an eight-year veteran, he works one of the toughest details – investigating child abuse.
“He is so great with the kids – very compassionate and kind,” said Denver Deputy District Attorney Kim Quinn, who has worked with Bishop for the past 18 months.
“He’s a hard worker,” Quinn said. “He’s very aggressive investigating the cases,” such as one in which a 19-year-old woman who spoke only Spanish reported abuse of a 3-year-old. An interpreter was needed, which typically hinders communication, she said.
“Usually, those interviews are a mess. But he was great – so patient – and waited for the translator, and stayed on track, completed his thought. I have a great interview to give the jury now,” she said.
A husband and parent, with a 4-year-old daughter and 2-year- old son, Jack Bishop is a hands- on father, his brother said. “He’s very involved with his kids. He does everything with them,” Ric Bishop said.
After hearing of the shooting early Sunday, Ric Bishop said, he went to church. “I had something extra to pray for that day. I was thankful, and I was also saying a prayer for Donnie and his family.”
Staff researcher Barbara Hudson contributed to this report.
Staff writer Amy Herdy can be reached at 303-820-1752 or aherdy@denverpost.com.
