Phyllis ‘Jean’ Sipp 85, of Baker City, Ore., died Jan. 1, 2007, at her home.
At her request, Jean will be cremated and there will be a family service at a later date. Interment will occur next spring.
Jean was born on April 6, 1923, in Red Oak, Iowa. She was the oldest child of Jacob Meng and Nellie Weidman Meng and had two brothers, Kenneth (Bud) and Robert,; two sisters, Donna and Nita. She attended school in Red Oak through grade 7.
Jean’s family moved to Oregon when she was twelve years old and she attended junior high and high school in Jefferson. She did very well in school, especially in math, but preferred playing baseball and swimming in the Santiam River. After graduating in 1940 shortly after she turned 17, she worked for a year before marrying Laurence Crane in August 1941. They had two children, Llona Crane of Baker City and Larry Crane of Mulino. Laurence was killed in action in the Philippines in March 1945. While he was in the service Jean moved with her parents to Baker.
In 1946 Jean married Charles Richard Sipp of Baker and they had two children, Danny Sipp of Baker City and Monte Sipp of Portland, Ore. Jean worked at U.S. National Bank for more than thirty years, all but the last ten in Baker. She lived and worked in Portland until she retired in 1985, after which she moved back to Baker, where she has lived since.
Jean enjoyed crafts and did macrame in its heyday, crewel embroidery, and plastic canvas, among other things. She took a mail order course in doll repair and repaired and dressed many dolls. She made at least 200 beautiful satin Christmas ornaments embellished with jewels. All of her children and her friend Linda use these ornaments on their Christmas trees. She loved crochet, which she learned as a child. She was fast and proficient and made elaborate outfits for dolls, giving an elegantly dressed doll to every child and grandchild. She also made sweaters, shawls, afghans, tablecloths, and doilies. Although she worked full time, she sewed most of her daughter’s clothing until her daughter was in high school.
Jean spent many hours working in her yard during her early retirement, planting and tending to flowers and bushes. She loved to read and she spent most of her time reading during the last three years of her life when she was confined to her bed. She loved flowers, candles, and figurines with birds and flowers.
She is survived by her four children; two daughters-in-law, Carol Crane and Marlene Sipp; nine grandchildren, Lorri and Aaron Crane, Lise, Leslyn, and Jeffrye Moyes, Colt and Beau Sipp, and Shane and Shawna Sipp; 15 great-grandchildren; her brother and sister-in-law, Bob and Irene Meng of Baker City; many nieces and nephews.
Contributions may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital or the charity of your choice.
Used with permission from: The Record Courier, Baker City, Oregon, January, 2007
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor