Wally Tippel
Wally Tippel peacefully passed away Nov. 17, in Laguna Beach. He was 68.
Born in 1941, Tippel was raised and educated in New York. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1961 and served for three years, including an assignment in Germany as a field communications specialist. Following his honorable discharge, Tippel relocated to Laguna Beach, where he would happily reside for the remainder of his life.
With his entrepreneurial spirit, Tippel established a home repair and management company. Because of his love of Laguna and its craftsman architecture, he specialized in restoring original Laguna cottages. His natural eye for color, detail, and architectural character earned Tippel an impressive list of clients who would wait patiently for months until he could work them into his busy schedule. As testimony to his expertise, Tippel never advertised, distributed business cards or relied on the Internet in search of new clients. His quality workmanship stood on its own merits. Despite his demanding schedule, Tippel found time on Sundays to volunteer to clean houses for the infirmed and aged.
Most people who knew Tippel as a friend, co-worker, or client learned of his sharp wit, love of animals, boundless involvement, personal integrity, surreal wisdom, total openness and dedication to improving the lives of others who faced tragedy or illness. Tippel committed time, money, resources and his very existence to providing comfort, inner peace and love to those in need. Brushing aside character faults or weaknesses, Tippel focused on the positive, searched for a person’s inner strengths and nurtured the raw potential intrinsic to all humanity. In a world teeming with intractable disease and ethnic discord, Tippel welcomed all and radiated a life of simple purity, true kindness and an enduring love for all whom he touched.
Tippel is survived by his brother Edward and family of East Stroudsburg, Penn.
All are invited to bid a final farewell to this saint of saints on Saturday, April 2, from 1 to 4 p.m. at 2795 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Blue Bell Foundation For Cats in Laguna Beach would bring a smile of approval from Wally.
