Ernest Wade Lippard of McKinney, TX, departed this life on Monday, September 24, 2018, at 79 years of age. Born in Amarillo, TX on February 23, 1939 to Ernest Luther Lippard and Ada Laverne (Martin) Lippard, Wade (along with his older brother, Larry) spent his boyhood in Kingsville, TX. Two years after the untimely death of Wade and Larry's father in 1951, the boys' mother remarried Melvin P. Stephens, who also had two adolescent boys of his own, from a previous marriage. The new family of six moved to Tulsa, OK, where Wade would later graduate from Will Rogers High School, in 1957.
Immediately thereafter, Wade attended the University of Oklahoma at Norman, where he met the love of his life, Paulette Akers, in a Consumer Economics course. Each of them eventually received an undergraduate degree in business, and the couple were married June 9, 1962. Wade's gregarious nature; his clear sense of duty to family, fellows and country; and his temperament as "a leader of leaders," combined to create a career of exceptional achievement.
Wade's life was a life of service to others. He served his country for a total of 19 years as a soldier in The United States Army, and in The United States Army Reserves; he was honorably discharged from the latter in 1981 with the rank of Major. Not only did he defend his fellows as a soldier, but also in his civilian role as a life insurance executive. Here, Wade's great love for the society of his fellows animated both the man and his accomplishments: Team spirit became his spirit, his drive and his joy. As an Agency Manager for the Equitable Life Assurance Society of The United States, Wade took his agents and staff all the way to the top not once, but twice, by leading them to win their company's President's Trophy in 1982 and 1983. And, speaking of team spirit, let it be known here that OU Sooner Football likely couldn't have had a more passionate (and vocal) fan of its doings on the gridiron than Wade.
Wade's love and care for his family lives today, and in their many yesterdays, and, through our hope in Christ, into eternity.
Preceded in death by his parents, Luther and Ada Lippard, and by his brother, Larry Edd Lippard, Wade is survived by his loving wife of 56 years, Paulette Lippard, of McKinney, TX; son, Michael Wade Lippard, of Fayetteville, AR; daughter, Michelle Johnson, and her husband, Roger Johnson, of Dallas, TX; and granddaughters, Chloie Caroline Johnson, Taylor Elizabeth Johnson, and Claire DeMontigny Johnson. Wade will be missed by his surviving step-brother, Freddy Stephens, as well as a host of dear friends.
A funeral service will be held at 12:00 noon, Saturday, September 29, 2018 at Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Funeral Home Chapel, 2525 Central Expressway North, Allen, Texas 75013. Interment will follow at Ridgeview Memorial Park.