Edwin "Ed" Jipp Obituary (2014)

Funeral services for Edwin Theodore Jipp, 88 of Blair, will be held at 10:00 AM Friday October 31 at Blair Congregational United Church. Lunch will follow services. Interment will be in the Ft. Calhoun Cemetery. Visitation will be held Thursday October 30 at Campbell Aman Funeral Home with family receiving friends from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. Edwin died on Monday October 27 at Good Shepherd Lutheran Community in Blair. Ed was born May 12, 1926, in Dannebrog, NE, to Dr. Edwin T. Jipp and Helen (Rohwer) Jipp, where his father practiced dentistry. While Ed was still an infant, the family moved to Blair where Dr. Jipp continued his practice. In 1944, Ed graduated from Blair High School and by then World War II had begun. He was inducted into the Army in September of 1944. He served in M Company of the 108th Infantry Regiment 40th division. His unit received a bronze star for making a landing on Mindanao Island in the southern Philippines, along with the Philippines liberation ribbon. He also served a year in Korea. Returning home he attended Dana College for one year, then graduated from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, earning a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering in May 1950. Following graduation, Ed and Philip Larsen developed a business partnership Larsen & Jipp Construction Co., first building homes and then commercial buildings. On August 27, 1955, Ed married Shirley Baker of Omaha (formerly of Ericson, NE). To this union three children were born, Ellen Sue, Paul Edwin and Martin Baker. In 1977 Ed and Shirley formed their own corporation – Ed Jipp Construction Co. to specialize in sewage and water treatment plants in Nebraska and Iowa. Ed was a member of the Blair Congregational United Church of Christ, a member of the Blair Rotary Club for many years, and the Blair Historic Preservation Alliance. Ed was always interested and involved in community goals. His latest project was helping to restore the Blair train depot, now known as “Depot in the Park”. His hobbies were tinkering with old cars, photography, gardening and the planting of trees and bushes. Ed is survived by his wife Shirley, daughter Ellen Sue (Mark) McGovern of Omaha, sons Paul Jipp of Blair and Martin (Debra) Jipp of Paris, ILL; grandchildren Natalie, Mary and Jack McGovern of Omaha, and Sidney and Morgan Jipp of Paris ILL. Memorials may be directed to the Congregational United Church of Christ in Blair or Good Shepherd Lutheran Community in Blair.