Dennis Bishop has been remembered by friends, family and colleagues as a "caring and passionate principal" with an enduring impact that will last well beyond his lifetime.
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The former Mount Austin High School principal passed away last week after a long battle with dementia, at the age of 73.
As a young man, Mr Bishop met his wife, Carol Leong, while studying on a teachers' scholarship at the University of Sydney.
They married in January 1969 and lived at Penshurst while Mr Bishop worked at Gymea High School and Mrs Bishop - also a mathematics teacher - worked at Peakhurst High School.
Their first child, Matthew, arrived in 1972 while the following year the couple welcomed a daughter, Danielle.
Six years later, the family moved to Brewarrina, near Bourke, where Mr Bishop became the head teacher of mathematics and deputy principal at the Central School.
Son Matthew recalls that the family once again relocated after four years in Brewarrina "as [us] kids were getting to high school age".
Mr Bishop took up the position of head teacher Mathematics at Albury High School.
At the time, Mrs Bishop recalls "computers were just becoming available to schools and Dennis seized the opportunity to lead [the school] in that direction".
"At one time, all four of the Bishop family were attending Albury High, two as teachers and two as students," son Matthew said.
While at the school, Mr Bishop revived his university hockey career and begun coaching the boys' team.
"[He] made many lifetime friends among the boys he coached," Mrs Bishop said.
"He also continued to play hockey as well as lawn bowls which he took up in Brewarrina and continued in Albury."
After a brief tenure as the deputy principal of Murray High, Mr Bishop was appointed principal of Mount Austin High School in 1991. He would spend the next 15 years there, "nurturing the school environment and the students and teachers", as his widow puts it.
"This became his whole life. He realised that he needed some extra activities outside his life of Principal so started playing veterans hockey and joined Kooringal Rotary," Mrs Bishop said.
"Dennis held down several positions within Rotary both at club level and district level. He was never one to sit back when there was work to be done."
Glyn Leyshon joined Mr Bishop at Mount Austin High School as the deputy principal from 1995 until 1999, before Mr Leyshon became the principal of Kooringal High School in 2000.
"Dennis was a fantastic educator, one of those principals that absolutely had the welfare of the staff, students in mind in everything he did," Mr Leyshon said.
"He was gregarious, a great communicator with a strong personality. He genuinely connected with people at all levels. He went out of his way to put you at ease."
Mr Leyshon further described his former colleague and friend as being "larger than life", "bold" and "the kind of guy who filled a room".
While at the helm of the school, Mr Leyshon recalls Mr Bishop kept a hands-on approach to teaching.
"Even as a principal, he'd go into classes and check-in. He was so strong as a teacher, he brought practical mathematics into the classroom," Mr Leyshon said.
"He was the right man for the community."
That hands-on approach to teaching was something that remained a central part of his personality even after his Lewy Body Dementia diagnosis led to his residence at Caloola Nursing Home.
"He spent his time walking the corridors, greeting the staff (often giving them nicknames) and poking his head into rooms to check on the residents," his wife recalls.
Known to the staff as 'the principal', Mr Bishop often resorted back to his classroom days while at Caloola. He became known for his "booming teacher voice", as Mrs Bishop puts it.
"If there were visitors to the unit, to entertain he would treat it as an assembly and call everyone to order, making a thank you speech at the end," Mrs Bishop said.
The family would like to express their gratitude to all of the staff and residence at Caloola court for the empathy and compassion in looking after Dennis in his final years.
He is survived by his wife of 51 years Carol, son Matthew and wife Ricky, and daughter Danielle and her husband Andrew. He has six grandchildren in Chaz, Loudy, Walt, Bridget, Hayden and Lucy.
A private cremation will be held for Mr Bishop in the coming weeks. The family plans to celebrate his life once COVID-19 restrictions allow for larger gatherings and border closures are relaxed.