Loyal Bishop played three sports in college, earning seven varsity letters and induction into the Wittenberg University Hall of Honor.

Aside from losing several teeth from jarring hits — Bishop returned kickoffs for the Tigers’ football team — he emerged with no lifelong injuries or chronic pain.

“I got knocked out once, but that’s nothing,” Bishop said, chuckling. “You get up, and they hit you again.”

The physical tenacity and spiritual foundation he relied upon at that Lutheran university in Ohio, both as an athlete and a ministry student, are serving Bishop well 56 years after his record-setting days as a football, basketball and baseball standout ended.

Now 78, his opponent is Parkinson’s disease. That affliction causes tremors, stiffens muscles, slows movement and disrupts balance. In its latter stages, Parkinson’s often leads to depression and dementia. Its cause is unknown. There is no cure, but medications can treat it.

An estimated 1.5 million Americans cope with Parkinson’s daily.

After spending a half-century caring for others as a Lutheran minister, Bishop joined that list two years ago.

He and his friend, Jan Lemond, first noticed his symptoms while Bishop drove his car. Each time he lifted his left hand off the steering wheel, it shook. After tests and visits to a family doctor and a neurologist, Bishop was diagnosed with Parkinson’s.