Rosemary Bischoff, 84, epitomized modeling, elegance in Milwaukee
Hoodude
By AMY RABIDEAU SILVERS
Feb. 21, 2008
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Bischoff
Rosemary Bischoff, whose name became synonymous with modeling in
Milwaukee, was a model herself before running her own agency.
She was first hired in the mid-1940s by Dorothy Walters, then fashion
coordinator of the Boston Store, to do informal modeling in the store's
new Colony Room.
"At that time there were no modeling schools here, and in fact there
were only about 10 models in town," Bischoff once recalled. "If a
store's fashion director liked you, she hired you and trained you herself."
When Walters decided to open a school, she liked Bischoff enough to hire
her and later offered her a partnership. The partnership dissolved in
1958, and Bischoff struck off on her own, creating the Rosemary Bischoff
Studios and Models Agency.
"I was the teacher, the booking agent for model placements, the
receptionist, I answered the telephone," she said of those early days.
"As you can see, it was not the world's largest operation."
Bischoff died of lung cancer Feb. 13 in Scottsdale, Ariz. She was 84.
Her school and agency became a success, with Bischoff continuing to
learn on the job. Her circle of contacts and friends expanded and her
work included attending fashion weeks in New York.
The former Rosemary Babich grew up in West Allis. In 1947, mutual
friends introduced her to Jack L. Bischoff at Bohmann's Bomb Shelter, a
bar in West Allis. It took six months for him to ask her for a date, but
then things got serious and they married the next year.
The two made a conscious decision not to have children. Both came from
small families - he had no siblings and she had one brother.
"We were considered selfish," Bischoff said. She knew that raising a
child was "the biggest job in the world" and she wanted a career instead.
So they filled their lives with work and with each other. Her husband
was an attorney interested in real estate, also serving with the
Milwaukee Redevelopment Authority board.
"Our life was undomesticated," she said.
"She was always on the go," said good friend B.J. Rabb. "They ate out
all the time. She was the first woman I ever knew who didn't cook."
Rabb was then a radio talk-show host who got to know Bischoff during her
on-air appearances. She and other friends became part of a regular lunch
group, dubbed the "Dutch Lunch Bunch" by Bischoff's husband.
The only purpose was for women to get together and have fun. Separate
checks, please.
"Lots of them were her friends. She had friends all over," Rabb said.
"When she moved to Arizona, she started another lunch group there."
A tall, slender woman, Bischoff remained elegant even as she could be
earthy. Bischoff continued running her school and agency until 1978,
when she sold the business, continuing as a consultant.
She and her husband retired to Phoenix and then Scottsdale. A fashion
writer for "Exclusively Yours," she also wrote about fashion for
"Trends" in Scottsdale.
Bischoff was long active with groups including Tempo for businesswomen
and with the Milwaukee Press Club.
"She was so supportive of women at a time when no one was supportive of
women," said Lorna Sorenson, who worked as a columnist for the old
Milwaukee Sentinel.
"She was delightful to be around," Sorenson said. "She didn't gossip.
She didn't get petty. She was bigger than life."
Bischoff's husband died in 1998. Survivors include her brother, Bill
Babich, and nephew Paul Babic. A private burial service is planned in
Scottsdale.
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Lincoln money shot