Thread by @Sarah_Stierch

My step-grandpa, Carl Richard Bischoff, died in Arizona yesterday after a five year fight with multiple myeloma. One of the most altruistic men I've ever known, he stepped in as a surrogate grandfather to me when my stepmom, BJ, became part of our family.

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Almost 15 years ago we both under went surgeries- me dental surgery and Carl for colon cancer- like two freshman college roommates we were holed up together unexpectedly at BJ's house - eating soft foods, hopped up on pain killers and watching bad television for a week.
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It was my first chance to get to know Carl, this man who was a new part of my family tree. He was born in 1933, the day after me, August 27, in Lancaster, PA. (We often celebrated our birthdays together!)

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He attended McCaskey High School. He married Barbara Hume (1934-2002) at St. Paul's Church in Lancaster in 1955. The two of them would have three children: BJ, Debbie and Robert.

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Carl was a bassoonist - and a veteran. He was bassoonist in the US Air Force Band.

Here is is in 1951 (top row, second from right) with his McCaskey HS bandmates.

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Carl had a long career with American Telephone & Telegraph Co. before retiring. He then joined HealthPage, where he worked as as supervisor until his second retirement in the late 90s/early 2000s.

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What Carl was best known for was his decades long role as a @redcrossgpa volunteer, in the Lehigh Valley, with his first wife (and BJ's mom) Barbara (1934-2002).

📸 The Morning Call, 1988

7/16

In a 1988 interview, then Allentown Fire Chief Ernest Toth described Carl as one of "the most dedicated people that I've ever seen in volunteer relief work for the Red Cross."

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Carl was awarded, alongside Barbara, the most prestigious Red Cross volunteer award: the Clara Barton Award for Meritorious Volunteer Leadership.

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He continued this work with the @INRedCross when he relocated to Indianapolis. He'd eventually meet his second wife, Marilyn, through his volunteerism.

10/16

Back in the Lehigh Valley, Carl also volunteered for @CetroniaEMS and Western Salisbury Volunteer Fire Company. I often wondered what he'd think of what I do today around wildfires.

11/16

Seeing his work with the Red Cross in Indy sparked an interest in volunteerism in me - and while my trajectory was different than his (digital volunteerism) the overlap is clear to me: when disaster strikes or looms, we must do something, no matter how big or small.

12/16

Eventually, I moved to DC, my parents moved to California, and Carl moved to Arizona with his second wife and now widow, Marilyn Arlin.

13/16

Many of us can only be so lucky to find a second chance at love, let alone in our 70s! Marilyn was a godsend, ensuring happiness late in life, a world full of music (she is a classical pianist) and constant care during two more bouts w/cancer, including this final bout.

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Carl was kind, thoughtful, tough and intelligent. While my blood grandfather, Alexander (who died in July), became estranged from our family in the wake of the death of my grandma, Carl stepped in - doing the stuff grandpa's do with adult kids. I was very lucky.
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May his memory be a blessing to @bjbischoff, Debbie Miller, Bob Bischoff and Marilyn. It will be to me.

Please join me in making a memorial donation to the @RedCross : redcross.org/donate/donatio…

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