William Bisbee honors his wife's memory with Sidney F. Smith Toy Fund donation
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CHESTERFIELD - The dedication from Chesterfield resident William H. Bisbee in his donation to the Sidney F. Smith Toy Fund this year is spare in words, but big in meaning.
"In memory of Norma" fits on the memo line of a check, in the slightly shaky handwriting of a man who is getting on in years. But it is also typed on a piece of white lined paper that reads, "Given in memory of my wife of 55 yrs., Norma Bisbee, from Bill."
In fact, Bisbee made a donation in his wife's memory last year as well. This year, his $50 contribution helped bring the total raised so far for the effort to help families buy gifts for their children around the holidays to $13,592.
Norma Bisbee, who died June 5, 2010, at the age of 77, likely would have appreciated the donation to the Toy Fund in her honor. A longtime teacher, Girl Scouts leader and swim instructor, she was a great lover of Christmas and children, according to her husband.
"I thought it was the least I could do in something of her memory," he said Thursday.
The couple's three children and four granddaughters always made Christmas a special time of year for her, Bisbee said, and when his wife's health prevented her from going out to do her the Christmas shopping, she took to buying presents through the mail.
"I still get the catalogues," said her husband.
Bisbee, 85, a former lumberman, recalled that his wife fell ill and was taken to the emergency room on the couple's 55th anniversary in May of 2010, and died a week later.
"It's hard," he admitted, noting that his wife didn't smoke, rarely drank, and her mother, Helen Bourne, lived into her 90s. This left Bisbee hoping for more time with his wife.
But he downplayed his loss, saying his was no different from anyone else's. Every day, he said, he hears about somebody who has been diagnosed with cancer or another illness.
Bisbee said he will also donate $5 for a "bow of hope" to be placed on the Christmas tree in the sanctuary of the Chesterfield Congregational Church in Norma's memory. The proceeds go to help the Goshen Food Pantry.
With help from the community, the Gazette-sponsored Toy Fund, in operation since 1933, gives eligible local families vouchers to buy holiday gifts they could not otherwise afford. The Gazette and Berkshire Children and Families cover all administrative costs of the effort, freeing up all community donations to go directly to the families in need.
List of donors to the fund appear in the paper on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and they are a part of the paper Bisbee enjoys reading.
"The Gazette, I don't always agree with what's on the editorial page, but it does a great job acknowledging everyone donating," Bisbee said. "I think for a lot of people, in addition to seeing their names in the paper, its a reminder of the loved ones who passed before."
Norma Bisbee taught at the Goshen Center School for 19 years before retiring in 1988. She was the leader for the Chesterfield Girl Scouts troop for many years, tutored students privately, volunteered in the Northampton school system and taught local children swim lessons in the family pool. They came 12, 15 at a time, with between 50 to 60 receiving lessons over the course of a summer, William Bisbee said. Over the years she estimated teaching 1,000 local kids to swim, said her husband.
"She had several instances where kids went into the Navy and said, 'Ms. Bisbee was the one who helped me jump into the water'" the first time, her husband recalled.
This December will be William Bisbee's second Christmas without Norma, a fact he made note of matter-of-factly.
"When you lose somebody you appreciate them more," he said.
This year, the Gazette seeks to raise $75,000 to cover the value of the vouchers it expects to distribute. Eligible families must live in any Hampshire County community except Ware, or in the southern Franklin County towns of Deerfield, Sunderland, Whately, Shutesbury and Leverett. Donations to the Toy Fund may be dropped off at or mailed to the Daily Hampshire Gazette at 115 Conz St. in Northampton, MA 01060 or Gazette offices at 67 Main St., Easthampton, or 9 East Pleasant St., Amherst. Donations may also be made through GazetteNET at www.gazettenet.com.
Checks should be made payable to the Sidney F. Smith Toy Fund.
A list of donors will appear again in Monday's paper.
