Every day we pass museums, schools and churches named after people many of us have no idea who they were.
There are places like the Bishop Planetarium downtown, or Sugg Middle School on 59th Street West, or the Rogers Memorial United Methodist Church in East Bradenton.
These places were named for the movers and shakers of the community from the past who helped shape what Manatee County is today.
E.E. and Lilian Bishop
Edward Everson, known to his friends as Ned, and Lilian Bishop, called Patty by those close to her, were leading philanthropists in Manatee County and throughout the nation.
The Bishops, who both came from prominent Ohio families, built and endowed the Bishop Animal Shelter, 5718 21st Ave. W., Bradenton, on about 40 acres of a former citrus grove Lilian Bishop inherited from her father.
They also contributed all the funds necessary for the building of the Bishop Planetarium, 201 10th St. W., a component of the South Florida Museum complex.
These two county landmarks carry the Bishop name, but the couple, who moved to Manatee County in 1914 from Ohio shortly after their marriage, made major contributions to several other prominent area institutions.
They paid for an additional wing to Manatee Memorial Hospital and the construction of the Manatee Players Theater on Barcarrota Boulevard; and established a scholarship fund for girls wanting to enter the nursing field.
Ned Bishop died in 1962 and Lilian Bishop in 1972.
Dr. W.D. Sugg
William Daniel Sugg, M.D., a close friend of the Bishops, also made major contributions to the community’s quality of life.
Moving to Manatee County in 1930, he established a successful medical practice as the area’s first surgeon and quickly became involved in civic and social organizations.
The middle school on 59th Street West and a low-income housing project, now part of the U.S. 301 realignment, on Ninth Street East carried Sugg’s name, but many county landmarks and traditions are attributed to the physician.
Sugg was one of the four founders of the Florida West Coast Symphony, now called the Sarasota Orchestra, in 1949; one of the founders of the South Florida Museum in 1946, which has a display of his surgical office; and with Dr. L.W. Blake, donated 25 acres of land to the federal government for the establishment of DeSoto National Memorial at the end of 75th Street West.
He was intimately involved with the Bradenton Kiwanis Club, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Bishop Animal Shelter, the Chamber of Commerce, Bradenton Country Club, Ringling Museum, Manatee Medical Society, the Bradenton Housing Authority, Manatee Junior College, and several local banks, serving on their boards of directors, and as chair or president of many of them.
The long-time physician was instrumental in the founding and building of Manatee Memorial Hospital, where he served as chief of surgery and chief of staff for many years.
One of Sugg’s most notable achievements was helping to establish the DeSoto Historical Society and DeSoto Celebration in 1939, which is the largest crowd-drawing event in the county.
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