MAY 27, 1915 TO OCTOBER 31, 1996
Art was born May 27,1915 in Tacoma, Washington. As a twin he weighed about 3-4 pounds at birth. Art had a twin brother, Jim and a sister, Jean Quistorff. The Sipprell family moved to Everett when the kids were young. Art, Jim and Jean enjoyed doing gymnastics with their father. Art developed a love for sailing at a young age. One of the first sailing pictures shows Art sailing with his sister on Lake Stevens. Art went to Washington Elementary and North Junior High in Everett.
The Sipprell family moved to Lake Forest Park in 1930. Art graduated from Roosevelt High and attended the University of Washington. He was a member of Phi Delta Theta Fraternity. One of his first jobs was driving for the Lake Forest Park Mercantile Co. In Lake Forest Park Art met Elizabeth Swanson. They were married July 10, 1938.
Art and Elizabeth lived in Billings, Montana where Art was a Link Aircraft Flight Instructor during WWII.
Art was married to Elizabeth for over 25 years. Art was a father to Elizabeth Ann (Libby) and Barbara (Barb) Sipprell. Shortly after Barb was born the family moved to a new home they built in Everett. Life was good, until 1967-68 when Elizabeth became very ill. Barb who was about 12 years old especially remembers this time in her life, as does Liz. Art was a very caring and thoughtful husband and father. He took tender loving care of Elizabeth during her extended illness without a word of complaint.
During his working career ... Art was an owner of the Sipprell and Sons Piano Store, was a West Coast bus driver, a pilot for Morrisson-Knutson and finally retired from the Snohomish County Assessor's Office. However, Art's big passion in life was sailing and flying.
MYOT - Art built during the 60's.
During the 1970's, Art married Millie Close who was his sailing partner to Hawaii(1978)...Alaska(1980).. and Long Island(1975). The Sipprell family learned about the art world of Chuck Close through his mother.
A few years after Millie's death Libby introduced Art to her favorite friend and nurse at Garfield School. Jo Galbraith became his wife and sailing partner. What a family with Jo's three children and Art's two daughters, and grandchildren. Friends and family welcomed Jo. How could Art be so lucky in love and be able to follow his dreams.
For 16 years thereafter, in the summers, Art and Jo sailed from Desolation Sound to the Queen Charlottes. During these trips many experiences with other sailors, particularly the Gray Goose Sailing Club....became conversation pieces around the fire on cold winter nights. Another passion of Art's was storytelling. He enjoyed telling sea stories or yarns...whether about sailing, flying, his Uncle Josh, or life in general. Art expressed a sense of humor as well as true wisdom for life.
Art practiced archery, went swimming, baked chocolate chip cookies,
and enjoyed trying his skill at calligraphy and drawing plans for boats.
Art also belonged to an exercise class at ECC. Art was a voracious reader - anything on airplanes and homebuilts. He knew every plane and every detail. A member of EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) he attended air shows in nearby Arlington and Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He enjoyed trying his skill at calligraphy. Was a regular patron of Henry's Donut Shop. Rode his bicycle from Lake Stevens at 81 years old to the Snohomish Bakery for cinnamon rolls and coffee.
Liz and Barb will always remember how their father fought to survive cancer. Art's courage and caring ways will be something long remembered by his whole family. He was still planning to build a homebuilt aircraft with Bernie (his grandson) and planning to help Benjy build a houseboat.
Art and Jo with Arabesque in Desolation Sound
Our Dad, Art Sipprell
Dad had an adventurous spirit. His worth was not tied to the mundane things of life such as his job or material possessions, and he certainly was not the type to stop living after retirement. When we were growing up Dad always had an abundance of magazines on planes and boats. He would study plans on experimental flying craft and designs on boat building, He built Myot in our carport and spent summer evenings with his family sailing in the area lakes and in the sound. A trip to Whidbey Island was truly an adventure!
It took my sister a fall year to talk Dad out of building an airplane after he sent for the plans on how to build an experimental craft. Fortunately, a family friend owned a small plane so Dad could indulge his passion for flying. His first love was sailing, however, and Dad was able to indulge his love of sailing to the full after he sold the house and bought Arabesque, a classic Cheoy Lee .
A trip to Hawaii, crossing the Pacific, was a dream come true for Dad. Sailing to Alaska, Mexico, and one summer along the East Coast were also adventures he was able to indulge in. Most of his summers though, were spent up in Desolation Sound, a truly beautiful place, where Dad formed many lasting friendships with others whose interests were similar to his own.
His trip to Australia with his beloved wife Jo was something they both enjoyed, camping out and exploring the country in the van they had rented. Dad told me once that his father, Jim Sipprell, had told him as a child that in Australia the drains whirled around in the opposite direction. The first thing Dad did after getting off the plane was to run into the men's restroom and flush the toilet. Sure enough, it was true.
Dad also had a caring spirit. When our mother became ill, we were fortunate to have our Grandmother Swanson move in with us and care for
Mom while we were at work and school, but the minute Dad came into the house he took over. Her care often required Dad to be up in the middle of the night, but there was never one word of complaint from him. We remember our Grandmother Palma Sipprell being cared for in a nursing home. They both held full time jobs, but even so. Mom and Dad spent several nights a week, plus weekend visits driving to Seattle to be with Grandma. Neither my sister nor I ever heard a word of complaint from either one, even though as adults we now realize what an exhausting schedule this must have been for them. Dad never gave up on living. After being diagnosed with stomach cancer and undergoing surgery to remove his stomach, his mind was still on adventure. Jo read to him from the true-life adventure books of Tristan Jones', a sailor. Dad would still take short sailing trips in Arabesque when able. We had that last summer with him when he was unable to leave, but stayed in the area taking overnight trips with Barb, Libby, Mike, Benjy, Bemie, and Don.
He and Jo managed one last trip together to Washington DC. Dad was active up to and including the day he experienced heart failure. Jo's intervention gave us the time we needed to say goodbye to our Dad, Grandfather, Friend, and Mentor. Written by Barb Washo
Sister Jean's Memories of Art: As kids they loved to visit Aunt Til and Uncle Josh who had no children . They were especially close. In the summers Art would learn woods lore from Uncle Josh. One story Art tells is when his uncle Josh went to town on the bus one day. The bus was stopped by a herd of elk. Nobody could get those elk to budge. The bus driver tried everything he could think of. Still they watched. Still they waited. Passengers on the bus tried to get the elk to move along. Still they watch. Still they waited. Finally Uncle Josh walked up the aisle of the bus slowly and asked if he could help. He gave one short whistle and the elk thundered off. The passengers and bus driver were shocked!!!! How did Josh ever do it???? Josh never did tell them that he had encountered these elk as a forest ranger before. Only then he shot them with some bebees and whistled. Those elk would never forget that whistle. Jean stated that Art was a lot like his father Jim , Sr. A wonderful blessing he has been to the people around him and wonderful example. He has survived cancer, chemo, knew surgery.
The Cookie SongBy: Kris Forster Dedicated to: Art Sipprell, a wonderful friend who loved cookies as much as I do.
God Bless You Art!!
Oh the trouble with cookies, they always taste good The trouble with cookies you eat more than you should
It's so hard to stop with a limit of one
Too soon you have eaten them all one by one!!
One time to preserve them we made up a list
To find out the reason so many were missed
We signed up and ate them
Our friends signed up too
And still they all vanished in one day or two.
The trouble with cookies, they always taste good. The trouble with cookies you eat more than you should.
It's so hard to stop with a limit of one
Too soon you have eaten them all one by one.
The trouble with cookies they never taste bad
It's hard to consume them and still feel sad.
Invented by geniuses long long ago,
It's hard to deny them wherever you go!!
The trouble with cookies they always taste good, The trouble with cookies you eat more than you should,
It's so hard to stop with a limit of one,
To soon you have eaten them all one by one!!