Walter H. "Mike" Tipert, Jr., 75, died Saturday, January 1, 2011 at home following a lengthy illness. He was the husband of Janice (Reid) Tipert, with whom he shared forty-eight years of marriage.
Born in Danvers on July 3, 1935, he was the son of the late Walter and Jean (Perkins) Tipert. He was raised and educated in Danvers and was a graduate of Holten High School, Class of 1954. He went on to play football at the University of Tennessee and finished his degree at Northeastern University in 1970. An honorably discharged veteran of the Vietnam era, he was a member of the Army Security Agency stationed in Thailand.
Mike was a business entrepreneur, owning and operating Danvers Rubbish and Trash, Danvers House and Window Cleaning, Town Hall Motors, Danvers Snow Plowing, the Wash Tub Laundromat, and Colonial Landscaping. He also operated the first ice vending machine in Danvers.
A lifelong Danvers resident, he served for twenty years on the town Finance Committee, for several years as chairman. He was a founding member of Danvers Youth Football, DEEP, and the Blue & White Foundation. A past president of the Masonic Temple Assoc., he was a 53 year member of the Mosaic Lodge and Past Patron of the Order of Eastern Star, Mt. Burnet Chapter #119. Mike was a member of the Danvers Kiwanis Club for fifty years, where he was a past president and past Lt. governor and also the recipient of a Hixon Fellowship. For over twenty-five years, Mike and his wife sponsored the Danvers Family Festival Doll Carriage Parade. Mike was a Blue & White Hall of Fame inductee and a recipient of the Baron Mayer Award.
In addition to his loving wife, he is survived by four children, Andrea Crawford of Newnan, GA, Monica Tipert of Danvers, Walter H. Tipert III and his wife Christen of Danvers, and Lance Tipert and his wife Sharon of Frisco, TX, three grandchildren, Laurel Elizabeth Tipert, Peyton Sophia Tipert, and Alan Michael Tipert.
His Funeral Service will be held on Thursday, January 6, 2011 at 1PM in the Holy Trinity United Methodist Church, 16 Sylvan St., Danvers. Burial will follow in Walnut Grove Cemetery, Danvers. Relatives and friends are invited. Visiting hours are Wednesday from 4-8PM in C.R. Lyons & Sons, Funeral Directors, 28 Elm St., Danvers Square. In lieu of flowers, donations in Mike's name may be made to the Blue & White Foundation, c/o Barry Robertson, 12 Worthington Ave., Danvers, MA 01923 or the Holy Trinity United Methodist Church, 16 Sylvan St., Danvers, MA 01923.