Kenneth Wesley Tippie

Ken was born and raised in Southern California. Like his dad before him, Ken was an Eagle Scout and served as Assistant Scoutmaster of his son’s troop. He earned the Pro Deo Et Patria Award from the Lutheran Church (God and Country) and has always exhibited a strong faith and love for his country. Ken was an avid surfer and, in later years, enjoyed surfing with his son. He knew from an early age he wanted to be an engineer. After graduating from Long Beach State University with a degree in Electrical Engineering, he went to work for McDonnell Douglas working on the Saturn Program. It was there he met his wife Ann. They were married in 1971.

His work has taken him from California (Huntington Beach and Vandenberg Air Force Base) to Florida (Kennedy Space Center), Kwajalein (Pacific Test Range), New Mexico (White Sands Missile Range) and Huntsville. The family lived on Kwajalein, Marshall Islands for a total of six and a half years. While on Kwajalein, Ken was an avid scuba diver. He served two terms as president of the scuba club. He had a huge shell collection, the result of his many dives.

Ken had a lifelong love of Corvettes and later NASCAR. He visited the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green several times and was a regular at Talladega for many years.

Ken loved the Caribbean and, for years, he and Ann vacationed on St. Martin annually. Ken and Ann moved to Alabama in 1999. About the time they moved, they started making a once or twice a year trip to Cancun and Playa del Carmen. His other favorite destination would have to have been Yellowstone. Ken loved camping and hiking. Many road trips to national parks were taken while the kids were growing up. He taught his children to fish and, to be honest, they turned out to be better at it.

Ken became a state certified master gardener in the fall of 2013 and belonged to Master Gardeners of North Alabama until his passing.

The last few years, Ken enjoyed their little house on Smith Lake and the pontoon boat.

Ken was a member of Messiah Lutheran Church in Madison.

Ken is survived by his wife Ann, daughter Kristin Tonkin, granddaughters Jillian Tippie, Kathryn Tippie and Claire Tonkin and grandsons Benjamin Tippie, Griffin Padilla and Jonathan Tippie. He was preceded in death by his son Charles.