When Charles first began to work at E&E Insurance Company, they were located at 4400 N. High Street in Columbus, Ohio.

Charles A. Tippett was born November 3, 1929 and passed away Saturday, May 18, 2013 in Houston, TX . Mr. Tippett was from East Columbus. He received his Accounting Degree from Ohio State University and was a CPA. Mr. Tippett enjoyed Square and Round Dancing. He is survived by his wife, Barbara; son, Steve and his wife, Darla; daughter, Sandra and her husband, Paul; sister, Mary; grandchildren, Dono and Amanda. Memorial service will be held 4 p.m. Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at Crossroads Church, 5000 College Park, Conroe, TX. 77384. For more info, go to website: catippett.forevermissed.com

Published in The Columbus Dispatch from May 21 to May 23, 2013

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Charles A. Tippett Eulogy

By Steve A. Tippett

Given at Memorial Service on May 21, 2013

Hi, I am Steve Tippett, Charlie Tippett’s son.  We are here to celebrate my Dad’s life, and as you might have guessed, Red was his favorite color

Since many of you here have only know Dad since he and mom moved to Houston, eight years ago, I am going to tell you a little about my Dad’s life before Houston. I think you will be amazed at what you hear, because he never liked to brag about his accomplishments.  In fact, when I was a teenager and people would ask him what he did, he would say something crazy like, I am the local garbage man.

Actually, dad had a very amazing career.  He graduated from Ohio State University with an Accounting degree, and quickly became a CPA. His first job was with the Peat, Marwick and Mitchell Accounting Firm.  While there, he did audit work for a new insurance company called E&E or Educator and Executives insurance.  He joined E&E in 1962, and quickly rose through the ranks to become Executive VP in 1968.  In 1975, he was elected President by the Board of Directors, definitely no garbage man.  Two years later, JCPenny bought out E&E and dad then became President of JCPenny Insurance companies.

In  1978, JC Penney split the casualty insurance and life insurance companies into two units, and combined the life insurance company with several other life insurance companies they had acquired in Dallas.  Dad was transferred to Dallas to bring those companies together, and mom and Dad lived in Dallas for 2 years.

Dad tired of “corporate life” and set out to start a new Construction Management company with 2 other men.  Dad had been in charge of the building of two office buildings for E&E, as the company grew in size, and he came to love the business of building office buildings. He and mom moved to San Diego for that venture, but the business did not thrive and he decided to cut his losses and move on.

Mom and Dad decided to move back to Columbus, Ohio; to help their aging parents, and Dad went to work for the Credit Life Insurance Company, eventually moving to another Insurance company in Springfield, Ohio.  After a few years, that company was bought out and shut down.  Dad then decided to go out on his own, and started up Tippett Consulting, which he owned and operated for almost 20 years.  He had over 100 clients, and many of those clients became dear friends, who have stayed in touch with him to this day.

Dad never tired of work, and mom had to push him to retire at the age of 75, as his memory began to fail.  His intellectual capacity never faltered, he just could not remember the  things he needed to run his business.

In 2005, mom and dad moved  to Houston, where they were able to be closer to their children and grandchildren. 

On the  more personal side, dad was always a family man.  He provided us with everything we could ever want or need, but did not spoil us with material things.  In fact, we lived in a modest house, and lived a very modest lifestyle, even though he had the money to live a much different lifestyle.  He instilled that philosophy in me, and as I approach retirement myself, that lesson will allow me and my family to retire in comfort, because we have always lived “below our means”.

Dad and mom loved to dance.  When my sister and I went off to college, they learned to Square Dance and Round dance, and through that activity made many friends and traveled to many places for conventions and out-of-town dances.  They continued dancing even after moving to Houston, for another 4 years.

Dad loved to read the newspaper, and he read the local paper and the Wall Street Journal every day.  Both were delivered daily to the house, and he would get up in the morning, usually before the paper arrived, and await the sound of the papers hitting the driveway.  He would then go out, in the dark, to retrieve the papers, and sit down in his front room easy chair with his half cup of coffee, to enjoy the latest news.

And yes, the “half cup of coffee”.  He always asked for only a half cup, because he wanted his coffee to stay hot.  He continued to remind my mother, after 61 years of marriage, each time, that he wanted only half a cup.  Even the waitresses at his favorite restaurants, who knew him by name, always were reminded that he only wanted half a cup of coffee.

Dad enjoyed building things, probably because his career used his mind and not his hands.  While I was growing up, Dad took a landscape design class, and then proceeded to redesign the yard at our house on Bernhard Rd.  We moved all of the existing bushes to new locations, added many new shrubs and trees, built a decorative  pond and fountain in the front yard, and built a Japanese rock garden area.

Next dad took on the challenge of converting our basement into a family/recreation room.  He and I installed a vinyl tile floor, suspended ceiling and paneled the walls.  We installed a freestanding fireplace and even had “secret” doors that went into our shared woodshop and laboratory space.

After completing the rec room construction, he furnished it with a game table, a couch and chairs and we even had a billiard and ping pong table.  I loved that basement area, and in High School the rock band I was in often practiced there.  When we practiced, it was so loud that the end table lamps in the living room would shake, but he never complained, at least to me.  He always let me have my space to do my thing, including growing my hair to shoulder length, to fit in with the Rock Band.

Dad also loved cars, although he never really had one of his dream cars.  He always wanted a Porsche, after owning a very early Volkswagen Beetle in Salzburg, Austria; that was designed by Ferdinand Porsche.  The closest he ever came to his Porsche were the Audis he owned: an Audi Fox, Audi 5000, Audi A6 and Audi A4.

To close, I would like to go back to the beginning of my life with Dad.

 Dad was in the army right after graduating college, during the Korean War timeframe. He was fortunate enough to be stationed in Salzburg, Austria and mom got to go with him.  As a result, I was born in Salzburg, Austria, also the birthplace of one of the most famous composers ever, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

We lived in Austria for about a year after I was born, and then returned to Columbus, Ohio.  When I was in my early teens, dad took our family back to Salzburg, so that I could see where I was born, and to meet the Austrian family that had rented the bottom half of their house to us.  During that visit, I fell in love with my birthplace, and the Austrian people.

Darla (my wife) and I returned to Austrian when I was about 30 years old. Then when our son Dono was about 10 years old, Mom, Dad, Darla, Dono and I returned to Austria, for what would be dad’s last visit.

Thanks Dad for bringing me into the world in a special way, in a special place, and for encouraging me to be different and special my entire life.

You will be sorely missed, but always loved and present in our hearts.

I love you Dad.