Bill Phipps

W

illiam Arthur Phipps

Phipps, William (Bill) Arthur, (1927- 2015), 88, of Chandler, AZ, died Dec. 30, 2

015 and now is home with

his Heavenly Father. Bill

was born in Modesto CA on May 17, 1927 to

George

and

Cecile

Phipps.

He

spent his early years in Yakima WA

with his

siblings Maurine, Nancy and Robert

,

and

graduated from Yakim

a High School in 1945. Bill

serv

ed

in the

US

Navy

and

graduated from Yakima Junior College before gaining a degree in architecture from

the University of Washington

in 1954.

He married Elizabeth (Bette)

Rensch on

July

31,

1954 and together they created a loving home for five

children

.

After 16 years in private practice in Yakima,

the family moved to Olympia WA where

Bill

was

administrative architect

for the development of The

Evergreen State College.

H

e

joined the architecture staff

at the University of Utah

in Salt Lake City

in 1973

and advanced to

University Architect

.

The family move

d to Tempe AZ in 1977

,

where Bill had

a

private practice

for 13 years. He finished hi

s

career

a

s

a

facilities management architect with Maricopa County

and

retire

d in 199

7.

Bil

l

enjoyed

designing

single and mul

ti-family residential projects, schools,

colleges, hospital

s,

high rise office buildings

,

manufacturing plants,

community centers and

churches.

In retirement,

Bill

volunteered

as a

design

consultant

and

draftsman

to

the

Sunbird

retirement

community and

St. Steven

’

s Church in Chandler.

Bill was

a loving husband and father,

faithful

Catholic,

av

id golfer, prolific artist,

creative

inv

entor,

and passed along his love of the outdoors while camping with his family. He

will be

greatly missed

by

his wife Bette,

brother Robert, and

his children

and their spouses:

Brad

and Jane

(Sunnyvale CA), Jim

and Susan

(Tempe AZ),

Brian

and Robin

(Mesa

AZ)

,

Molly

and Jeff

(Colorado Spring

s

CO)

, and

Michele (Chandler AZ)

;

his brother Robert (Portland, OR);

his

five nephews and a niece,

nine grandchildren,

and one great grandchild.

Services are at 11 a.m., Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2015, at St. St

even’s Catholic Church, Sun Lakes

, AZ. Interment will be at the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona. Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to Sunbird Carebears, Sunbird Golf Resort, 6250 S. Sunbird Blvd., Chandler, AZ 85249.