Urban Cultural Arts’ Latosha Greenleaf remembers her last day with her student and friend Chloe Bishop.
The two artists worked on a piece for the studio bathroom and talked about a party Chloe was planning to attend that night – her first ever, Greenleaf said.
Before she left, the 17-year-old Chloe, also known as Chara, asked for a hug. Now, Greenleaf can’t stop replaying the video of that last hug.
Chloe was killed Jan. 30, when, a witness said, a truck ran a red light and hit the car her father, Daniel Bishop, was driving. Daniel Bishop was critically injured. The truck’s driver was charged with felony counts of homicide and OWI causing injury. He was previously convicted of OWI in 1992. He has an open case in Brown County for an OWI charge from 2022.
“I’m glad our last encounter was what it was, because I got to hold her so tight for so long,” Greenleaf said. “She was just a gentle soul. So gentle, so sensitive. So sweet and kind.”
After the crash, messages of love and sorrow poured in for the teenager, remembered in her obituary as “a truly beautiful, unique, and talented person.”
“Chloe was vibrant and was truly one-of-a-kind. She had her whole life ahead of her,” a GoFundMe page for her family reads. “The shock and heartbreak of losing her so suddenly is something no family is ever prepared for.”
Those interested can donate to the Bishop family at bit.ly/Bishop-GoFundMe. Funds will be used for funeral expenses and to ease financial stress over Daniel’s medical bills.
Chloe’s funeral will be at 1 p.m. on Feb. 7 at Proko-Wall Funeral Home, 1630 E Mason St, Green Bay. There’ll be a visitation before, at 11 a.m.
Chloe’s grandmother requested Greenleaf be the one to talk about Chloe, Greenleaf said. Greenleaf and Urban Cultural Arts “made Chara’s dreams come true,” Greenleaf recalled Chloe’s grandmother saying, and she hopes other kids can get that opportunity.
“Catch the full moon tonight, breathe in those flowers you always pass by, and take the time to enjoy your favorite food … especially if it’s chocolate or noodles,” Chloe’s obituary reads. “Please help us all appreciate life – the way Chara would.”
Chara at Greenleaf’s studio
Greenleaf met Chloe about a year and a half ago, when state program Children’s Long-Term Support referred her to Urban Cultural Arts. Every Wednesday and Friday, they’d talk about what made Chloe smile, what had made her sad or upset. She’d always ask Greenleaf those same questions, Greenleaf said with a smile.
“She was very sweet, kind, sensitive,” Greenleaf said. “She definitely saw and felt everything around her.”
Every inch of Greenleaf’s studio is covered in art, and there wasn’t an art project Chloe didn’t like. She drew her favorite characters. She’d create animations. She loved making over porcelain dolls, making them new dresses and redoing their hair.
When Chloe didn’t feel like making art, she and Greenleaf would adventure. The two might go to the thrift store across the street to get materials for art projects. Chloe was like a kid in a candy store, Greenleaf remembered, “zooming” off among the stacks.
Other times, they’d go on a walk. One walk, Greenleaf said, Chloe saw a dead possum on the road. Without a second thought, she asked if they could bring it back to stuff and make art with; “completely fearless,” Greenleaf remembered. When she said no, Chloe started talking about the life she imagined the possum could’ve had.
“She had a whole different appreciation for everything around you,” Greenleaf said. “Things you wouldn’t even think about looking at and just look past, she would look at and just come up with all types of stuff.”
Chloe and her grandmother sent Greenleaf a card at Christmas. “Thank you for all that you do,” it said. Chloe wrote her own note at the bottom.
“Thank you for always treating me like family,” she said. “You never fail to make my day better.”
Contact Green Bay education reporter Nadia Scharf at nscharf@usatodayco.com or on X at @nadiaascharf.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay teen killed in car crash remembered as ‘gentle soul’
Reporting by Nadia Scharf, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
