Mr. William C. Gipe
It is with the heaviest of hearts we share the forlorn news that Bill passed away Thursday August 29th, 2019 after a courageous fight against pancreatic cancer.
A memorial service will be held at 10:30 am on Friday, Sept. 13th at the First Presbyterian Church in East Aurora His obituary can be viewed here.
From the time of his initial diagnosis, our Fearless Leader refused to concede that the diagnosis was an inevitable “prognosis”; rather, he lived each and every ensuing day by being fully immersed “in the moment”…as he did his entire life. He passionately continued to love his family (especially his beautiful wife Katherine), the Jersey Shore, and both his EA church and the Quaker Aurora Tennis Club. His tireless devotion to his religious and secular communities is irreplaceable and will surely be sorely missed.
Indeed, the QATC Board only fully realized exactly how much Bill had accomplished for our Club until he matter-of-factly told us that we would all need to “step up”, and at least do the Court schedules in his stead…since he had long been doing schedules for most of the Men’s leagues at QATC — over a dozen time slots!
We will greatly miss — and never be able to replace — the “Life Force” that was Bill Gipe. We take comfort in recognizing that HIS was a “Life Well Lived” — and that WE all have been carried along for many years in the rising tide of Bill Gipe’s largess which served to float all of our proverbial boats…
We will never forget you, Captain Bill Gipe, and we shall remain forever thankful for your
Leadership;
Mentorship; and
Friendship!!
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“O Captain!! My Captain!!”
— Walt Whitman
“O Captain!! My Captain!!
Rise up and hear The Bells;
Rise Up — for you the flag is flung — for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths — for you the shores a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning…
The ship is anchor’d safe and sound,
its voyage closed and done,
From fearful trip the victor ship
comes in with object won.
Quaker Aurora Tennis Club 