ROBERT W. 'BOB' PIPPEL

Palmer lost one of its few remaining Colonists when Robert W. "Bob" Pippel died Aug. 17, 2003, in Tucson, Ariz., after a six-month illness. There will be a celebration of Mr. Pippel's life at 3 p.m. Thursday, Sept.18, at the Palmer Moose Lodge.

Mr. Pippel was born on Oct. 12, 1924, in Robbinsdale, Minn., the second child and first son of Walter and Melva Pippel. His family worked a series of tenant farms until they moved to Palmer in 1935 as part of the Matanuska Colony.

In 1940 the family moved Outside, then back to Anchorage the next year. He graduated from Anchorage High School in 1944. After graduating as valedictorian, he took a job for a year as a carpenter building hangars on Elmendorf Air Force Base. A two-year army hitch followed, mostly spent guarding the airstrip at Northway and keeping the fire trucks from freezing.

After getting out of the Army, he homesteaded 80 acres next to his parents' farm in Eagle River and operated a hog ranch for several years. Much of downtown Eagle River is built on that property.

In 1949 he married Kathlyn "Kay" Smith Hamby, the love of his life. She had opened an insurance agency a few years before, and he agreed to try selling insurance for a winter. To his surprise, he found he liked it, and taught himself the finer points of the business by reading insurance manuals. He and Kay operated Pippel Insurance Agency until their retirement in 1986.

Mr. Pippel was active in the community and had many hobbies. He was a 50-year member of the Palmer Elks Lodge, the Palmer Moose Lodge and the Palmer Kiwanis Club. He was on Palmer's first planning and zoning board. He served on the credit union's credit committee for many years, umpired Little League baseball for 12 years, and helped organize St. Michael's Slippery Gulch booth at the Alaska State Fair. He was an avid hunter, fisherman and outdoorsman. He hunted the Oshetna basin and Bald Mountain ridge in Willow. In later years he hunted sheep in the Wrangell Mountains. Having worked on his parents' various vegetable farms from the time he was a little boy, he was naturally an excellent gardener. He donated much of his produce to the local food bank.

His family said, "Bob loved poetry and could recite many poems from memory. He had a passion for opera and enjoyed listening to Broadway musicals. He could often be heard around the house or out in the yard singing arias and show tunes. Blessed with a strong tenor voice, he soloed each year in the Kiwanis Minstrel Show. In retirement he took up tennis and became a regular at the Palmer tennis courts. He also enjoyed playing poker.

"Bob was a truly good man -- a loyal friend to many and an active member of his community. He was an easygoing person with a good sense of humor. Always optimistic, he was a 'glass-half-full' sort of guy. He was a devoted husband, a loving father, and a doting grandfather. His family, friends, and community will miss him."

Mr. Pippel is survived by his son Bill and wife Phyllis of Tucson, Ariz.; his son Tony and wife Mimi of Palmer; grandsons Rob Pippel and Bill Pippel of Palmer; brother David Pippel and wife Marion of Palmer; and sister Karyle Palmer and her husband Jack of El Cajon, Calif.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 51 years, Kay; his second son, Mike; parents Walt and Melva; sister Gayle; and two brothers, Jim and Jack.