Anita Bischoff

Anita Marian Pascual Bischoff was born on December 14, 1917 in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughter of Inez Pick Pascual and Jose Pascual Velez. She died just short of her 94th birthday on December 11, 2011. Anita was a born teacher. She received her bachelor's degree in Education from University of Puerto Rico and after teaching English there for a few years, was offered a scholarship opportunity to study at the University of Southern California. At a time when few women took advanced degrees, Anita graduated with a master's degree in Speech Therapy. She also met the love of her life who would become her husband, a foreign exchange student named Guntram Bischoff. They were married in Germany in 1952 with the American consulate as witness. Anita went on to a long Speech Therapy career first with the Trenton, N.J. Public school and then, after her husband took a position as Professor of Religion at Western Michigan University, with the Kalamazoo public schools. Never wanting to be idle, when she retired from the public schools she began yet another career as a Spanish instructor at WMU. She loved her family dearly and enjoyed the many vacations they took together, particularly the trips to Maine where she had spent many of her childhood summers. She also traveled considerably on her own. A most memorable trip, taken when she was in her 80's, was to Egypt where she actually rode a camel. In addition to her travels, Anita loved to dance. She would often recount stories of adolescent informal dances in York Beach where she went with her cousin and then later, more formal dances and balls in Puerto Rico and California. She would even put on music to do housework and dance with the broom. Most recently, she had a few willing dance partners at Friendship Village where she resided until her death. Anita's husband predeceased her in 1988. Her children, Michelle Bischoff Kaucheck (Michael Kaucheck) and Christopher E. Bischoff (Maria Onetti-Bischoff) and her grandchildren, Matthew and Marissa Kaucheck and Marianna Bischoff, brother-in-law Diether Bischoff, her nieces as well as many cousins, survive. Rarely afraid, always there when someone needed her, Anita lived her life fully. She loved her family and friends. She will be missed more than words can express but comfort is to be taken in the fact that her lessons and her spirit live on with her children and grandchildren. Many thanks for the extraordinary care and affection given to her in the last few years by the staff at Woodside in Friendship Village. With their help, Anita enjoyed living right up to the very end. A celebration of Anita's life will be held on Tuesday, December 20th at 1:00 pm at the First Presbyterian Church, 321 W. South St., Kalamazoo. Arrangements by Langeland Family Funeral Homes.