Marian Lipp 1930-2024

Alice “Marian” White, 94, was born May 18, 1930, at her grandparents’ farmhouse in Enon Valley, Pa., the eldest child of James Harry White and Ada M. Stewart White. She was a member of Bethel Presbyterian Church in Enon Valley as a young girl and graduated from Mount Jackson High School in June 1948.

After high school, she attended New Castle Business School. Shortly afterward, she was introduced to her future husband, Harold Curtis Lipp, who was home from college on summer break, by their mutual relatives (her aunt was married to one of his cousins). She caught his eye and held his heart throughout their courtship and marriage on Sept. 2, 1950, a union that endured for the next 64 years. After their honeymoon, the newlyweds moved to Columbus, where Harold had one quarter of school left before his graduation as an engineer from Ohio State in December. A highlight of their time together in Columbus was attending the big “Snow Bowl” game against the University of Michigan over Thanksgiving weekend, November 1950. They were among the very few hardy people who ventured out into the deep snow and bitter cold to watch that infamous game.

Mom and dad eventually settled in East Palestine around 1954, when dad was hired by the Bessemer Cement Company. Although mom held a few secretarial / retail jobs early in their marriage, once the family began growing, she was happiest in her role as mother and homemaker. Four children were born to the couple in the ’50s, at which time the family joined and became actively involved at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in New Springfield. For over 60 years, until the church closed, our mother served the church in numerous capacities: as church secretary, SCS superintendent, altar guild member, lay reader and choir member. In later years, she became a member of St. John Lutheran Church in Petersburg.

She always kept busy with her children’s schools (PTO and tutoring) and all of their extracurricular activities. She belonged to two different card clubs over the years. She was a regular Red Cross blood donor, a bell ringer for the Salvation Army and a longtime (approximately 30-year) volunteer at Salem Hospital, where she once received the “Volunteer of the Year” award. For several years, she worked for the Columbiana County Board of Elections one or two times per year. Mom really enjoyed her experience of singing with the Senior Citizens’ Choir at the Ohio State Fair a couple of summers. Right up until the age of 90, she was still taking daily walks up the road and line dancing with a group of ladies at the East Palestine Community Center. She still enjoyed reading and doing word-search puzzles.

Most of all, our mother was a loving, hard-working wife and mother, a shining role model for her children, proud and supportive of all of our endeavors, especially the fact that all of us graduated from college. She had a deep faith in God and lived out her faith daily. Our lives and many others have been enriched beyond measure for having known and been loved or befriended by her.

She will be deeply missed, but lovingly remembered by her children, Linda Lipp of New Waterford, Richard Lipp (companion Donna Close) of East Palestine, Dr. Ronald (Kathy) Lipp of New Middletown and Alan Lipp of Savannah, Georgia; and her five grandchildren, Jaclyn (Colin) Bennett of Columbus, Jeremy Lipp of New York City, Eric (Megan) Lipp of North Huntingdon, Pa., Alisa Lipp of Columbus and Emily Lipp of Athens, Georgia. She also leaves four great-grandchildren, Eloise and Estella Bennett, and Vivian and Bennett Lipp. She is survived by her brother, Robert (Alice) White of St. Cloud, Florida; her sister-in-law, Cora White of New Castle, Pa.; and several nieces, nephews and cousins.

Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Harold Lipp, in September 2014; her daughter-in-law, Elisabeth Fraser Lipp, in February 2021; her brother, Paul White; and her niece, Valerie White.

Calling hours will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, at the Terry Cunningham Funeral Home, 203 Oak St. in Bessemer, Pa.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, at St. John Lutheran Church in Petersburg, with calling hours from 10 to 11 a.m. There will be a lunch for family and friends after the service.

A private graveside service for the family will be held at New Springfield Cemetery.

The family requests, in lieu of flowers, memorial tributes be made to Hospice of the Valley-Hospice House, 9803 Sharrott Road, Youngstown, OH, 44514; or the American Red Cross, redcross.org.

The Cunningham Funeral Home, Bessemer, Pa., has been entrusted with Mrs. Lipp’s care. Online condolences can be given at keystonefuneralservices.com.

(special notice)