Bill died peacefully at home, surrounded by loved ones, from complications of congestive heart disease. Known affectionately as “Professor Bill,” “Captain Bill,” “Bugs” and “Billy,” he was a lifelong learner with a curious mind and remarkable ability to connect with friends and strangers alike.
A proud Michigander, Bill was born in Grand Rapids to Daniel N. Lipke and Katherine Prentiss Lipke. The second of four siblings, Bill graduated from Creston High School (1954) and Albion College (1958). A failed pre-med student, he was tripped up twice by inorganic chemistry and eventually turned to art history as consolation. A three-year position (1958-1961) teaching eighth-grade English and humanities in Milford, Mich., which he described as his most challenging and rewarding years of teaching, was followed by completion of an MA in integrated humanities at Wayne State University (1963). He earned a PhD in art history from the University of Wisconsin (1966), having spent the previous year on a Roijtman Traveling Fellowship at the Courtauld Art Institute in London. Bill completed an MA in theology and pastoral counseling from Saint Michael’s College (1996) to learn, as he remarked to his daughter, “how to pastor one’s own strayed sheep.”
Bill’s entire professional career was happily and productively spent in the field of education. He taught at Cornell University (1966-69) and Reed College (1969-70), coming to the University of Vermont in 1970. He was a favorite and energetic UVM lecturer who was known for drawing inspiring connections between the past and present. He retired from full-time teaching as a tenured professor of art history in 2001, teaching part time for another 10 years with a special interest in first-year seminars and advising students.
Bill also served as director of UVM’s Fleming Museum of Art (1977-1979) and as interim chair of the Department of Art and Art History (1989). His scholarly publications and teaching focused on British, American and Canadian art of the 19th and 20th centuries. He held a special interest in New England and especially Vermont art and architecture, served as a trustee of the Vermont Council on the Arts (VCA), and was honored by the VCA with an Award of Merit for Distinguished Service to the Arts in Vermont. He served as a consultant to the National Endowment for the Humanities and the New England Regional Chapter of the Archives of American Art.
He was an avid singer; he sang tenor (“They’re always in demand”) with various groups including the Burlington Choral Society, Oriana, Syrinx, Social Band and the Vermont Jazz Vocal Ensemble at UVM. A dedicated sailor, runner, biker and gym rat, Bill volunteered with Meals on Wheels and served as a hospice volunteer for more than 25 years. A “Friend of Bill’s,” he was indebted to friends both within and without the AA Fellowship who strengthened and encouraged him over the years.
Bill leaves a daughter, Megan Elizabeth Lipke and family (Paris, Diego, Oscar and Francesca Smeraldo) of Great Barrington, Mass.; a son, Daniel Hall Lipke and family (Cathleen Warren, Angus and Neave Lipke) of Beverly, Mass.; and his loving partner, Emily Wadhams, of Burlington, Vt. Bill was predeceased by an older brother, Daniel P. Lipke, and a younger brother, James Ross Lipke, and followed days later by his sister, Mary Margaret Landi of Petoskey, Mich. Survivors include former wife and mother of his children Catherine Hall of Burlington, Vt.; brother-in-law Mike Landi and his family; sisters-in-law Katherine Lipke and Svetlana Elnitsky and their families; and nieces Kerstin, Shannon, Tanya and Hannah.
Memorial contributions in his name may be made to the Fleming Museum of Art, Fletcher Free Library, McClure-Miller Respite House or Carpenter’s Boat Shop, Pemaquid, Maine. A memorial gathering will be held in the marble court of the Fleming Museum on April 4 at 4:30 p.m. All are welcome!
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This article appears in Mar 4-10, 2020.
My cousin Bill was a special man. I shall miss him immensely. Linell Broecker
My heart is heavy to hear the news of Bill Lipke’s passing; the communities of the University of Vermont, the state of Vermont, and education in general have lost a great light. As the accompanist for the UVM Jazz Vocal Ensemble, I got to witness firsthand Bill’s remarkable ability to interact musically and socially with young people as a fellow musician. It didn’t matter that there were decades between his age and theirs; he could, just by the way he listened, express great interest and respect in their lives. Even though I met him in a situation where I was in a teaching position and he sat with the students, I learned a great deal from him about one of the primary responsibilities of any teacher: to be glad to see a student. Bill was also always magnanimous and collegial with myself and my wife, Amber deLaurentis, who directs the group. He sang with us up until only a few months ago. He will be sorely missed and warmly remembered, and leaves a legacy of active commitment and artistic excellence in Vermont’s musical community through his involvement with our choral group and many others.
So sorry to hear of Bills passing. He was someone I always enjoyed speaking with st 12 step meetings so many years ago. As a fellow Friend of Bill W, he and I had much in common. Condolences to his son Dan and family, as well as Bills partner, Emily Wadhams. .
RIP , Bill. Such a good man.
Professor Lipke was Director of the Fleming the summer of ’77 when I worked there before my Freshman year at UVM on a weird work/intro to college program. Nina Parish was the Curator and there were a murder of Art Grad students hanging about. Then it got real weird. (i was a Plants & Soils major). Bill gave me free run of the third floor and required me to change my selection of (original) art work at my desk every few days. My appreciation of art and weird began with that summer and with Professor Lipke’s skilled guidance.
Bill was my art professor during my junior year, soon after he came to work at UVM. I was a serious art student and subsequently left UVM to attend art school in Boston.
Bill was fun, friendly and truly enjoyable. His art history lectures were interesting, memorable and informative, often dotted with humor..a welcome change from my previous art history experiences at UVM.
He will always be remembered fondly.
It seems like everyone knew Bill very well. He was the sunlight around which the art department orbited my 4 years at UVM and far beyond. I cherish the time we worked on a movie about the sculptor Isac Witkin filming in Vermont and NYC. Bill sparkled when either telling stories or singing his favorite rendition of a song. I was sitting in his Art History class soon after his daughter Megan was born. He talked about her in class to convey the new perspective his new baby gave him on life and it’s peculiarities. My heart is heavy now saying goodbye to him. I’m sure he will form the best choir the angels have ever been graced with.
I knew Bill a bit from UVM, but he was also my neighbor in Burlington. One day I was working beneath my car when it fell on top of me; my good neighbor, Bill, was there in a jiffy to lift it off, and could very well have saved my life. He’s often been in my thoughts in the 25 yrs since, and will forever remain so. My heart-felt regards to all his family, friends and associates.
Eric Beauregard
Charleston, SC
Dear Bill,
You were always a warm and wonderful man. Thank you for your great humor, friendship and knowledge. My condolences to your extended family and all others that you so often delighted with your wisdom. Kevin O
I am so sorry to hear of Bill’s death– we were close friends since our first days at Fairmount Grade School in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1940 . We remained close friends since then — and Bill traveled to Michigan each year and we could “catch up”. We played in a band together in high school and were always doing something imaginative together. I will miss him very much. He was truly a lifelong friend. Mike Jackson