William (Bill) Sipes, Jr., 79, of Lacy Lakeview, passed away Monday, August 9, 2010 at a local hospital. The family will receive visitors from 6 to 8PM Thursday, August 12th at Lake Shore Funeral Home, 5201 Steinbeck Bend in Waco.. Thoughts and memories may be shared in the online Guest Book at www.LakeShoreFuneralHome.com.
Bill was born September 25, 1930 in Graham, Missouri, an only child to William H. Sipes, Sr. and Sarah (Van Pelt) Sipes. He grew up in northwestern Missouri and southwest Iowa, graduating high school in Dennison, Iowa in 1946. He attended Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri, graduating in 1950 with bachelor’s degree in mathematics. Then, he received his master’s degree from Omaha University and his doctorate’s degree from University of Iowa. He married Nancy Jo Ellis on July 6, 1958 in Oakland, Iowa. They moved to Waco in 1972. Bill was a teacher all of his working life, including teaching math at Connally I.S.D. for more than 15 years. After retirement, he was passionate about following Baylor Lady Bears Basketball. He loved his grandchildren dearly, and his beloved dog, Maggie. He and Nancy also enjoyed traveling together.
Bill was preceded in death by his parents; in-laws, Elmo and Merle Ellis; and two sister-in-laws, Kim Ellis and Janet Appleby.
Survivors include wife of 52 years, Nancy Sipes of Lacy Lakeview; daughters, Kelley White of Kaufman, and Kristin Craig and husband Steven of Lorena; grandchildren, Lindsey White, Brad White, Emily Craig, and Ben Craig; and other relatives including Chuck and Norma Hagood and their children, Laurie and Jeff, and Brad and Regina Cleveland and their children, Michael and Justine.
Memorials may be made to Fuzzy Friends Rescue.
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Good man, great teacher. Only person to give me a spanking, in 8th grade, that made me say Ouch! I like Mr. Sipes and know Heaven will be a better place with him there. I will pray for his family during this trying time. Aaron C.
Nancy,
We are devastated to hear of the loss of Bill. We are praying fervently for strength for you. The Lady Bear games will never be the same without him. We will miss our friend.
Nancy –
I am so sorry to hear of your loss. You are in our thoughts and prays always.
Nancy and girls,
So sorry to hear of Bill’s passing. I will always remember the fun times and lively conversations at Connally Junior High. He will be missed at all the Baylor B.B. games, too. You and the rest of the family will be in my thoughts and prayers. We will be out of town for the week and cannot make it to the visitation and service. love. Alice
Nancy –
So sorry to hear of your loss. My thoughts, prayers and love are with you and your family.
Annette
The Lord has taken a great man from us. Ben an I both had Mr. Sipes for math at Connally Jr. High he was great. Not only was he a great math teacher but was a avid Bears fan. Sic’em Bears Mr. Sipes! You will be truely missed!
Nancy –
We are so sorry for your loss. Please know that we will be praying for you in the coming days and weeks.
Bethany and Landry
Sorry to hear about Bill. You are in our thoughts and prayers
Nancy and family:
We are so sorry for your loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
Bob and Judy Rinehart
nancy,
i just wanted to write and say how very sorry i am about your husband. you take care of yourself,you are very special to alot of people here at the bank.
we love you !!!!
carol j. finch
My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
My deepest sympathies to the family during their time of sorrow. Mr. Sipes probably got more math into my head than any other teacher was able to… I have many fond memories of his class @ Connally.
God’s blessings to the Sipes family!
Nancy, I want to let you know that you and your family are in my thoughts and prayers. Much love to you all, Don
You are all in my prayers and thoughts.
Dear Nancy & Family;
We are sure going to miss "Big Bill". With his keen intelligence he could cut at the issue in a humerous way. Oh he loved his Nancy, daughters, grandkids and the Lady Bears. What a character he was and I enjoyed many hours, days, months, and years of friendship.
Nancy and Family,
Our hearts and prayers go out to you. We are so, so saddened by Bill’s passing. The years we spent working together at Connally were most memorable and — purely — lots of fun. Bill’s dry sense of humor never ceased to entertain us. He was a wonderful colleague. May God sustain and comfort all of you.
Dear Nancy, and family,
God bless all of you during this time of your loss and sorrow.It
Nancy and Family,
My thoughts and prayers are with you.
Nancy, know you are so in my thoughts and prayers. If needed I will be there for you. Blessings to you and your family.
i am very saden to see my math teacher from back in the day has passed away.
my heart goes out to the family and how i will miss seeing him at the Lady Bear Basketball games and Lady Bear softball games. may GOD bless each of you
Nancy,
Sorry for your loss. I pray strength and peace for you now and in the days ahead.
Love you,
Kelly.
Kelly, I was so sad and sorry when I received the news about your dad. Please know that you and your family are in my thoughts and prayers. May God give you renewed strength and comfort with each passing day. You are so special.
Love, Kim
Mr. Sipes was one of my Jr. High math teachers and I had tremendous respect for him!! The heavens should be smiling as they have taken one GREAT man!!
I am very sorry to hear of the loss of Mr. Sipes. He was my Junior High math teacher as well. One day, last summer, a familiar face started coming in my store (Honeybee Ham & Deli) to have drinks and talk basketball ….primarily Lady Bears.
Loving sports and Baylor went hand in hand.
I even made him buttermilk pie! Just for him and his friend.
He will be greatly missed.
My thoughts and prayers go out to y’all.
Nancy,
My prayers and thoughts are with you and your family at this time of need. I will always remember Bill’s smiling face as he walked past me at the Baylor games to watch the lady bears. He will greatly be missed by all.
Nancy and Family – My thoughts and prayers are with you all.
Mr. Sipes was my 7th grade math teacher, he touched many lives. My prayers are with his family. May God send his comforter to be you in your time of sorrow. God bless.
I am so sorry about Bill’s passing.I will miss very much.I love both of you. Michele
Mr. Sipes was a great man and a wonderful teacher. I had him at Connally High School in the late 80’s. His mother lived next door to us growing up, and he lived down the street. They were both such a blessing!!! I am so sorry for your loss but please know that you are in our thoughts and prayers and he touched our lives!
With Sympathy,
Michelle Mabile
May the Lord comfort you in your time of loss. Mr. Sipes touched many lives at Connally Jr. High and has left us with many pleasant memories.
Nancy,
I know the pain you and your family are going through all too well and no matter what I say the pain is deep and long for all of you. I will miss so much about my dear friend "Mr. Big Bill" as Allen called him. I truly believe that Allen was there to welcome and guide him as he entered the Lord’s home for him and that they will both be watching over us. Please call me when you need to cry or scream or whatever form your grief will take. I will be there for you any time you need me.
Much love to you
Pat
Nancy & Family.
I am so sorry about Bill. I pray that you will be comforted in the days to come. Please know we are all here for you.
Your family is in my prayers during your loss of such a great man. I have good memories of him from my days at Connally not to mention the way he took to my sons when they were in school. He will be truley missed.
Nancy and family,
We will miss Bill so much….having lunches together, traveling to out-of-town Lady Bear games, and enjoying his many stories. Our hearts go out to you, Nancy, your daughters, and their families. He was a great friend and we will miss him dearly…Bon Voyage, my friend…Wade and Sandy Sadler
We are so sorry to hear about the loss of our long time neighbor Bill.
Our thoughts and prayers are with you Nancy and your family.
If you need anything we are near by.
Again so sorry.