Michael Douglas Lipe

On December 12, 2024 Michael Lipe passed from this earth and opened his eyes to see the glory of heaven.

Michael Douglas Lipe was born December 10, 1947. He was the first of 5 children born to Marian and Raymond Lipe in Hutchinson Kansas. At a young age his parents moved to Great Bend, Kansas where Michael grew up and attended school.

One of Michael's fondest memories attending high school was being involved in the marching band the Argonne Rebels from Great Bend High. The band traveled to many competitions in the midwest and the south. He spoke fondly of his friendships, traveling on a bus with no air conditioning and competing in a wool uniform.

With his mother's insistence he sang in the church children's choir. Through that experience he found his voice and his love of singing. He attended Wichita State and Kansas State to obtain his bachelors and masters in vocal performance. As a classically trained tenor he traveled throughout Germany, Austria and Italy performing with symphonies, and operatic parts. He performed with opera groups in San Francisco, Santa Fe, Wichita, Kansas City, New York and Colorado. For several years he was the guest tenor at the Breckenridge Music Festival.

His son Douglas Lipe was born September 16, 1982. Doug or "Bubba" was his greatest joy and travel companion. Fond memories were created traveling to Great Bend to visit Grandma and Grandpa Lipe.

After three months of dating, Michael married Suzanne Norman on January 6, 1990. They began their married life with Michael as a professor of voice at Colorado State University. There, he taught voice lessons to students, many of whom are in music or music theatre to this day. Michael directed and conducted various choral groups and the orchestra for many musical shows at CSU.

After many years at CSU, Michael felt God calling him to serve in ministry. He joined Timberline Church where he used music and theatre to minister to the city of Fort Collins and the congregation. One meaningful moment was after 9/11 Michael erected 2 plexiglass towers which illuminated prayer requests on colored sticky notes written by church goers. Hundreds of notes colored both towers. So many people have mentioned how deeply impacted they were by this experience.

He honored veterans every year with a citywide invitation to a July 4th day of celebration. At the end of the day the choir performed a music program honoring those who served in the armed forces.

His greatest joy during this tenure was the Passion Play which was performed at the Lincoln Center for the Easter season. He wrote the script, worked with cast members helping them to portray the part they were playing as well as teaching the cast the powerful songs that were intertwined through the program. Years later, cast members still cherish the memories created when presenting the story of Christ's crucifixion and resurrection.

Michael had a heart for the elderly. He wanted to help all those he could to "finish the race strong". His desire was to provide a church service that sang hymns from the past, to read and use their Bibles, and to hear the sound of turning pages as church goers found the passages. His desire was to mentor those who lost spouses, those diagnosed with heart breaking illnesses, suffering from loneliness or other age-related challenges that hampered their journey with the Lord. It was here, he and other members from another church, created The Church at Fort Collins. Services met in the Lipe home until it grew too large that a bigger space was necessary. The church moved to the Coloradoan community room. Surrounded by glass and seeing the beauty of nature, the church continued to meet and existed for approximately seven years.

Through the years, Michael and Suzanne enjoyed discovering new places together. Trips to Breckenridge, Grand Lake in the summer and Hawaii all hold special memories.

He cherished each of his nieces and nephews: Annalis, Lindsay, Amber, Mitchell, Kandi, Braydee and Zane. His extended children Sophia, Karlie, Julia, Clara, Kadin, Gavyn and Brooklyn all were important to him. He impressed on these young lives to love the Lord and live a life pleasing to Him.

Michael is survived by his wife Suzanne, son Douglas, sister Carol (Sean), brother Richard (Lisa), in-laws Howard & Linda Norman, brothers-in-law Richard Norman, Chris Norman (Karen), sister-in-law Lianne Bowman, and many precious nieces, nephews, god-children, all who call him Uncle Mike or "Muncle".

He was preceded in death by his parents, Raymond Lipe, Marian Lipe, sister Sharolyn (Duane), brother Gary.

In lieu of flowers, a donation in Michael's honor can be made to the FRBC Academy Music Department, 625 E. Harmony Rd., Fort Collins CO 80525.

The diagnosis of Stage IV pancreatic cancer came as a surprise in late July 2024. He felt God would use him through his cancer journey. His legacy will be that he had a faith in God that never wavered. He "finished his race strong".

A celebration of life will be held 2pm, Friday, December 20, 2024 at Front Range Baptist Church, 625 E. Harmony Rd, Ft. Collins, CO 80525.