Marion, Illinois — Lawrence A. (Larry) Lipe formerly of Herrin, Illinois died at his home in Marion on July 26, 2016 at the age of 77.
Mr. Lipe was the former owner of Lawrence A. Lipe and Associates a civil engineering firm based in Benton, Illinois and a partner in JT Blankinship in Murphysboro, Illinois. He was responsible for the design and implementation of water distribution systems and waste water treatment facilities for a number of Cities, towns and Villages in in Southern Illinois including the Rend Lake Inner-City Water System and wastewater treatment and water distribution system for the City of Herrin. He served as the Chief Engineer for the Rend Lake Conservancy District and was the City Engineer of the City of Herrin for over 40 years.
Mr. Lipe was the son of Bernice and Lawrence Verdon Lipe of Chester, Illinois. He was born in West Frankfort, Illinois while his father was the superintendent of the Orient, Illinois elementary school. The family moved to Chester, Illinois where Mr. Lipe attended elementary and high school. He was twice inducted into the Chester High School Sports Hall of Fame as a member of the 1954-55 basketball team and a member of the 1954 football team.
He attended the University of Illinois where he was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity and received a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering in 1961. After graduating from the Illinois he served in the United States Army and was based in Fort Lewis, Washington where he was company commander and attained the rank of 1st Lieutenant. In 1964 he joined the engineering firm of Clark Dietz in Champaign, Illinois which had been awarded the contract to lead the design of Rend Lake Inner-City Water System.
In 1966, Mr. Lipe moved to the engineering firm of Vinyard-Givenrod which was acting as the local firm enlisted to oversee the construction of Rend Lake. He became of a partner in the engineering firm with Bud Givenrod forming the firm Givenrod Lipe Inc. and in 1973, he became managing partner of the Givenrod Lipe Inc. With the acquisition Jacobs Engineering of Huntsville, Alabama the firm eventually grew to include 75 employees with offices in Missouri and Alabama and work stretching as far as Louisiana. In 1979, the firm was restructured and Lawrence A. Lipe & Associates was formed.
Through his work for the Rend Lake Conservancy District and the design of it golf course, Mr. Lipe conceived the idea of the iconic water tower featuring the golf ball on tee. In addition to dozens private engineering and surveying projects completed during his career, Mr. Lipe’s engineering projects include work for the Southern Illinois municipalities including Herrin, Benton, West Frankfort, Christopher, Johnston City, Royalton, Hurst, Bush, West City, Dowell, Norris City, Blairsville, and Colp.
Mr. Lipe married Helen Sue Wittenborn of Chester, Illinois in 1961. He lived in Herrin, Illinois for over 30 years where he raised two children, Laura of Champaign, Illinois and Steve of Chicago. In 1987 he married Diana Gail Durham (Shew) of Benton, Illinois.
He is survived by his wife Diana of Marion; sister Janet Muzos of Lake Oswego Oregon, sister-in-law Jeanne of Somersville, Florida, former wife Sue Buescher of Carbondale, children Laura Anne (John) Vavrin and Steven Andrew (Susan) Lipe, step children Michael Kent (Judy) Durham of Macedonia, Illinois and Kenneth Wade (Angela) Durham of Thomasville, Georgia, his grandchildren Sarah Jane Vavrin, William Douglas Vavrin, Coco Reilly Lipe, and Scarlett Helen Lipe and his step-grandchildren Mary Grayson Durham and Catherine (Cassie) Caroline Durham.
He was preceded in death by his parents, brother Leonard Verdon Lipe (Jeanne), and his grandson, Jasper Lawrence Lipe.
Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Friday, July 29, 2016 at the Leffler Funeral Home of Benton, with Pastor Michael Neubert officiating. Burial will be in the Elder S.M. Williams Cemetery near Ewing. Visitation will be at the Leffler Funeral Home from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. Thursday evening.
In lieu of flowers, the family would like memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association or the United Leukodystrophy Foundation, and will be accepted at the funeral home.
To leave online condolences to the family or to share memories of Larry, visit www.lpfuneralhome.com
Speak Your Mind
You must be logged in to post a comment.