Dr. Bill Lippy 1928-2024

He was born in Niles in 1928. After graduating from Oberlin College, he completed both medical school and his residency at The Ohio State University. In between his internship and residency, he served in the United States Air Force as a flight surgeon with the rank of captain. He began his ENT practice in Warren in 1960 and taught at both Kent State and Case Western universities.

Dr. Lippy narrowed his specialty to otology, performing surgery to restore hearing in patients with otosclerosis. Having performed over 17,000 operations for the disease otosclerosis, including 2,000 revisions, Dr. Lippy’s name is associated with 65 peer-reviewed scientific publications and five book chapters. Dr. Lippy is among only 12 otologists who have successfully completed The Ohio State University fellowship program. That group includes Lippy’s partner in otology at the Lippy Group, Dr. Leonard Berenholz. Together, Lippy and Berenholz produced 27 teaching videos that are used by residency programs globally.

Historically, surgeons trained to perform stapedectomies, the operation for patients diagnosed with otosclerosis, stopped operating on pilots with otosclerosis due to incapacitating vertigo upon sudden descent. As a consultant for the Israeli Air Force, Dr. Lippy discovered that by modifying the prosthesis and using a thicker vein graft, the patients could withstand a sudden pressure increase inside an altitude chamber three months post-surgery. The results led to a total change in policy by the worldwide armed forces and commercial airlines, allowing pilots having had this specific procedure to once again fly.

Dr. Lippy is also credited for his work with female patients with otosclerosis which is known to run in families. Since 1939, otologists believed that pregnancy in an otosclerotic woman would make her hearing worse. Dr. Lippy compared the hearing changes of female patients from the orthodox community in Israel, who had many children, with his patients in the United States. He found no difference, thereby eliminating the long-held correlation. Instead, his extensive research uncovered a paper written in 1939 in Nazi Germany, where a group of nine physicians and one representative of the German government made a eugenic decision resulting in aborting the 67 women in their study. The Nazi regime did not want anyone with a hereditary disease in their population. Lippy’s contention was that it was the nature of this paper that had led to the long-held, false equation involving childbearing otosclerotic women and their hearing.

In 2009, Dr. Lippy was honored by the Otologic Society as the outstanding otologist in the United States, a tribute awarded annually to only one individual.

Dr. Lippy was a co-founder of the Israel Tennis and Education Centers (ITEC). In 1976, Lippy was alongside Leah Rabin in Ramat Hasharon, Israel to open the first center. By 2024, ITEC had built 24 centers in primarily disadvantaged economic communities throughout the country. Dr. Lippy was also instrumental in creating “Jump Start America.”

In January 1992, with American car sales rapidly declining, Lippy dreamed up a plan to offer Americans a $600 incentive to buy a car made in America. The idea caught on, and ultimately, the American share of the car market jumped for the first time in 30 years.

Despite all his accomplishments, Dr. Lippy was always quick to tell you that his wonderful family was his greatest gift. The glue that held it all together was his precious Sandra, known as Safta to the grandchildren they treasured. Together they enjoyed traveling with each grandchild to a destination of their choice, taking dance, cooking, art or etiquette lessons together, and even teaching them the art of investing through their stock club.

Dr. Lippy is survived by his wife, Sandra; his sister, Marjorie; his sons, David (Pam), Stephen (Sandra), Frank and Brian (Sarah); his grandchildren, Suzanne, Sarah, Harrison, Courtney, Carly, Adam, Sacha, Nathan, Astrid, Teo and Fiona; his great-grandchildren, Marleigh, Hayden, Noa, Gavin, Riley and Logan William; and his nieces and nephews, David, Ross, Bill, Ted, Tom, Dana, Daniel and Joel.

Services took place Wednesday, July 3, 2024, in the main sanctuary at B’nai Torah Congregation, 6261 SW 18th St., Boca Raton, Florida.

Interment immediately followed services in Eternal Light Memorial Gardens, 11520 State Road 7, Boynton Beach, FL 33473.

Shiva was observed Wednesday, July 3, 2024, and Thursday, July 4, 2024, at St. Andrews Country Club, 7261 Queenferry Circle, Boca Raton, Florida.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Dr. Bill Lippy’s memory would be gratefully accepted by the Israel Tennis & Education Foundation, Attn. Yoni Yair, 3275 W. Hillsboro Blvd., Suite 102, Deerfield Beach, FL 33422-9410.

To make an online contribution visit: https://Give.ITECenters.org/Lippy or contact David Lippy.

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