Family Wants Legacy of Peace at Va. Tech

Aug. 21, 2007 — -- On the morning of April 16, 35-year-old Jamie Bishop was teaching his German class at Virginia Tech when he was shot.

Bishop was one of five professors killed that day in the deadly massacre by student Seung-Hui Cho.

The faculty members who died that day valued education, dedicating their lives to teaching future generations.

Liviu Librescu and Kevin Granata both taught engineering science and mechanics.

G.V. Loganathan was a civil and environmental engineering professor.

Jocelyne Couture-Nowak was a French instructor; Bishop, a German professor.

"Good Morning America" anchor Robin Roberts talked exclusively with Bishop's parents, Michael and Jeri, and sister, Stephanie Loftin, about their lives four months after the shooting and their memories of Bishop.

Approachable, Popular Teacher

"We have good days and bad days," Jeri Bishop said. "We imagine that's the way it is for the other 32 families that were involved in this."

Michael said he thinks of his son every day.

"There's no way not to," he said. "Sometimes when we're alone, we just look at each other and we know what we're thinking about and we cry, and I imagine that's going to go on for a long time."

Bishop made his home in Blacksburg, Va., but his roots were in Pine Mountain, Ga., where he grew up with Loftin.

"Jamie was such a people person. I think he learned languages so that he could talk to all people," Loftin said.

His father said Bishop was popular with his students.

"He was tremendously approachable," Michael said. "He was always just one of the guys except when he got in the classroom and started teaching."

Michael is an award-winning science-fiction author. He said Jamie was a great teacher, but could have had a great future in art design.

A Campus Building Dedicated to Peace

But in an instant, all of those dreams were taken away.

The Bishops all remember the day they heard the news of the shooting.

"Mike called me at school and said, 'Come home. … Something's happened at Virginia Tech.' He said, 'Something really bad has happened. You better come home,'" Jeri said.

She takes some comfort in remembering the last conversation she had with her son. Bishop told her he had gone for a walk in the mountains.

"And then the last thing we said to each other was, 'I love you,'" she said.

Despite losing their son, the Bishops have a degree of sympathy for Cho, who killed himself after the attack.

"You can't leave out the element of the disturbed student," Jeri said. "It breaks my heart because I think if he had had help he would be alive today too."

Bishop and several others were shot in Norris Hall, and families and the university are discussing what should be done with the building to memorialize them.

"We would really, really like to see Norris Hall turned into a center for peace studies and crime prevention," Michael said. "We believe that would honor all those who lost their lives and who were wounded there as well. … And we would like to see the people in this country start thinking about adopting some sensible gun legislation."