Robert H. Bischoff, 79, retired bank president and vice chairman of the Deseret News Board of Directors, died Thursday, May 24, 2001, from complications of pancreatic cancer surgery.
The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued this statement today: "We note with sorrow the passing of Robert H. Bischoff, an esteemed friend who brought great skills and the highest of integrity to all he did. He was a valued asset to the Deseret News board, where he served with distinction for many years as well as to the community at large."
L. Glen Snarr, Deseret News Board chairman, said Mr. Bischoff was a key member of the Deseret News board with more than two decades of service. His duties on the board included serving as audit committee chairman. "He was a wise and valuable member of the board for 23 years," Snarr said. "We all appreciated his great service and friendship."
A veteran Utah banker, Mr. Bischoff retired as chairman of Key Bancshares of Utah and Key Bank of Utah and as a director of KeyCorp.
"He was one of the greater bankers in Utah and also one of the great citizens," Zions Bank CEO Scott Anderson said.
Mr. Bischoff was also on the boards of Town and County Life Insurance Co. and CB Enterprises Inc., where he was chairman.
He was born on March 13, 1922, in Ogden. A graduate of Ogden High School and Weber State College, he also attended the University of Utah and the University of Idaho. While at the U., World War II broke out and he enrolled in the Naval Officers Training Program.
During World War II, he served in the U.S. Navy aboard a destroyer in the Pacific. He was cited for heroic actions at Okinawa, Iwo Jima, Leyte Gulf, Morotair and Luzon.
After the war, Mr. Bischoff worked with a management consultant firm in Henderson, Nev., before returning to Utah to become a CPA in 1948. The Korean War then interrupted his professional career and he was again called to active Navy duty. He helped organize the Naval Reserve in Ogden.
He worked as a CPA for the Ogden firm of Bunker, Tanner and Garrett before joining Commercial Security Bank in 1956. At CSB, he served as a loan officer, vice president and controller and then as president and chief operating officer. During his 11 years of CSB leadership, total bank assets grew by 150 percent His leadership then continued with Key Bank, following a stock buyout in late 1987.
Mr. Bischoff was also elected president of the Utah Bankers Association in 1985. He received that group's Distinguished Banker Award and was an honorary colonel in the Utah Air National Guard. He had also received the National Guard's Minuteman Award in 1984.
He was on the original board of directors for Intermountain Health Care. IHC President William H. Nelson called Mr. Bischoff a real stalwart on the original board who established the company's distinguishing values.
He had also been United Fund campaign chairman for Utah, a director of Blue Shield of Utah, a member of the Salt Lake City Board of Adjustments and Zoning, the first vice president for Ballet West from 1974-76 and a director of the Children's Center of Salt Lake City. He had also served on the boards of Questar and Westminster College. Mr. Bischoff had also been chairman of the Utah Bankers Association Legislative Committee, served on the board of directors of the Weber County Hospital and also as director and corporate secretary of Intermountain Health Care.
Skiing, golfing and the Utah Jazz were his main hobbies.
Funeral services are pending.