Keith Tipler

Toward the end of the obit for Keith posted on this site, it says "He will be missed and remembered fondly, as a well-respected longtime baseball umpire and a wonderful friend of many." I would like to add, ... and a wonderful guy, or as most of us might say ... "Tip was a good guy!" It might seem a simple thing to say, but in todays world we need more of them. I will always remember Tip! He was an older guy who befriended the kids and the young men who played baseball in Madison. I have long since found my way elsewhere, but I remember my formative years in Madison, playing baseball and football, basketball and even running track until my buddies got me out for baseball at West High. All of it, a learning experience in an up beat environment heavily influence by guys like Tip who encouraged the younger guys who were playing the Game. Knobby Keliher was nother guy like Tip, always encouraging. Breese Stevens field was a place where we got to play and those guys where there to encourage us to play the Game as well as we could and within the unwritten rules of sportsmanship that we all sought to embody. One of the things that we often miss, if we find our way elsewhere, is knowing about the passing of old friends in our home town. I missed Tip's passing and heard about it several months afterward several years ago. Today, I found a note I wrote about Tip at the time, but never sent it. I am sending this note now, to assure Tip's family, his friends and all who knew him, that he will indeed be remembered at least as long as those of us were kids playing baseball in Madison are alive to remember. Tip's kindness and friendship left an indelible mark on many of us. In belated sympathy, Bobby Freed, Madison West '67