Obituary: Hipperson, Roy Howard
Age 90
It is with a combination of joy and sorrow that his family marks May 14, 2013, as the date his prayer was answered.
On December 2, 1922, Roy Howard Hipperson was born to George and Jessie Hipperson of Spokane.
Upon graduation from North Central High School in January 1941, he received an offer to attend Washington State College (now University) on a football scholarship.
He chose to stay in Spokane and go to Gonzaga University instead.
In December of 1942-2 days after his 20th birthday-Roy decided to drop out of college and join the military.
He enlisted in the United States Army, and qualified as an “expert” marksman in Basic Training.
But he was also a fast typist with a talent for math, which led the Army to assign him to record-keeping and combat support.
In 1944, he was deployed in that specialty to Guadalcanal, then to the Philippines, on to Okinawa, and, finally, with the occupation forces in Japan.
He was a Staff Sergeant when he received his Honorable Discharge in 1946.
Upon his return to Spokane, Roy resumed his studies at Gonzaga and met his future wife, Louise Hallstein, at a Natatorium Park band concert.
After a two-year courtship, the newlyweds spent their first night together at the Davenport Hotel on September 3, 1948.
It turned out to be the beginning of a 62-year honeymoon that included the birth of their four children.
Inspired by his wife’s deep Christian faith, Roy came to know Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.
For more than forty years they were members of Fourth Memorial Church, where they studied the Bible and served according to their individual talents.
Roy graduated from Gonzaga in 1948 with a degree in Business and Accounting and became a Licensed Public Account.
He opened his first office as an LPA in Spokane’s Garland District in the early 1950s.
In addition to his clients and his church, he served the community at large as a member and president of the North Spokane Rotary Club.
By 1973, he was serving the entire state as one of five accountants appointed by the governor to the Washington State Board of Accounting.
After Roy’s retirement from full-time service to his clients in 1985, he and Louise often vacationed in Hawaii and traveled to visit their children and grandchildren in Texas and California.
For their 50th wedding anniversary, their family treated them to an Alaskan cruise.
When they were not attending their grandchildren’s recitals and sporting events, Roy was on the golf course with his lifelong friends.
Because of Louise’s increasingly fragile health, Roy moved with her into the assisted living complex at Riverview in the summer of 2009.
In 2011, his sons accompanied him on an Honor Flight with other World War II veterans to see the memorials to their service in Washington DC.
Later that year, he was surprised to receive the five medals that he had earned from his service in the Army during the war years.
They were presented to him at the Veterans Day assembly at Brentwood Elementary School, in Mead School District, where his daughter Karen teaches.
As we look back on Roy Hipperson’s life, we rejoice in the knowledge that the greatest gift of all—eternal life in the presence of the Lord-comes from the Lord Himself (John 3:16).
Preceded in death by his parents and his older sister Ena, Roy Hipperson is survived by two sons (Brian G. Hipperson and his wife, Carol, of Spokane, Mark H. Hipperson and his wife, Shirley, of Oakland); two daughters (Susan England and her husband, Jim, of Dallas, Karen Hayett and her husband, Pat, of Spokane); ten grandchildren (Michelle Kreft and Renee England; Alexandra Gehrett and Meredith Hipperson; Matthew, David and Amanda Hipperson; Collin, McKenzie and Bayley Hayett) and one great-grandchild, Liberty Kreft.
Roy’s family and friends are invited to his memorial service at 10:00am on Monday, May 20, 2013, at Heritage Funeral Home, 508 N. Government Way, Spokane, Washington 99224.
The family suggests memorial gifts to Fourth Memorial Church, 2000 N. Standard, Spokane, WA 99207 or Inland Northwest Honor Flight, 608 W. 2nd, Suite 309, Spokane, WA 99201.