Virgil Everett Tipton Jr.

Virgil Everett Tipton

Virgil Everett Tipton, Jr., 93, of Springfield, IL, former Director of Publications for the Illinois State Bar Association, gardener and Roman Catholic activist, died November 19, 2010, at Rosewood Care Center in Edwardsville.

Mr. Tipton was born October 16, 1917, in Fairland, Oklahoma to Virgil E. Tipton Sr. and Lida Tipton. His father was a farmer, sawmill worker and thresher in northeastern Oklahoma, and his mother was part Cherokee Indian who lived on the Tahlequah Reservation before marriage. He was the oldest of eight children.

Mr. Tipton was a World War II veteran, serving in the Army Air Forces from 1943 to 1946, working on radar installations for B-29 bombers. He graduated from Cleora High School and later attended Northeastern Oklahoma Junior College, graduating in 1943. He attended the University of Missouri at Columbia, where he earned a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1948, typing his stories on a 30-year-old surplus military typewriter.

He acquired a lifelong love of journalistic accuracy and would later recall that a single misspelled word in an assignment would yield a failing grade for fellow journalism students. In his later journalistic career, he would often draft family members to help him proofread magazine pages.

After graduation, he moved to Springfield, IL where he worked at the State Journal-Register from 1948 to 1960, including eight years as Chief Editorial Writer. He later was Director of Publications and editor of the Illinois Bar Journal for the Illinois State Bar Association from 1960 to 1982.

He married Alice Layton of Springfield, IL. They would later discover they both grew up in houses that fronted on Route 66, 400 miles apart. They married on

May 31, 1958, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. The couple celebrated their 50th anniversary two years ago, joined by many family members, two members of the wedding party and their wedding photographer.

Mr. Tipton was an avid vegetable gardener. For many years, he and his family worked a plot of land larger than an acre, raising corn, potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, lettuce, onions, green beans, peas and, experimentally, peanuts. He donated hundreds of pounds of fresh and canned produce a year to the Sacred Heart Convent and to food pantries.

Mr. Tipton was active in many organizations, particularly those with a Catholic or patriotic makeup. He was a Commander of the American Legion Post 32, from 1991 to 1992 and a Fourth Degree Knight in the Knights of Columbus, Council 364, for over 50 years and held an Honorary Life Membership. He was also a founding member of the Catholic War Veterans, a life member of the University of Missouri Alumni Association and a member of the Route 66 Association of Illinois. He was a member of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights and was a member of the Delaware and Cherokee Indian tribes.

He converted to Roman Catholicism soon after moving to Springfield and joined the St. Thomas Aquinas Society. He was an active member of the Springfield Right to Life and past president of the American Concert Corporation.

He was a frequent letter writer to local and national publications, usually writing about right-to-life issues or political issues.

Mr. Tipton was widely read and would often read poetry from Edgar Allan Poe or John Keats to himself and to his children and grandchildren during their visits. He also loved the simple pleasure of the comics pages. In a rare departure from his mild-mannered nature, he would become irate if the comics weren't delivered with the Sunday paper.

Mr. Tipton is survived by his wife Alice; daughter, Ann Ellen and spouse Steve Richard; sons, Virgil (Mary Beth) Tipton, Jim (Magda) Tipton, Tom (Beth) Tipton; 12 grandchildren; brothers, Charles, James, George, and Reuben Tipton, and sister, Hazel Dillingham.

Family will receive friends from 2:00-6:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 21, 2010 at Kirlin-Egan & Butler Funeral Home, 900 S. 6th St., Springfield, with a prayer service to begin at 2:00 p.m.

The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, November 22, 2010 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, 524 East Lawrence Avenue, Springfield, with Rev. Peter C. Harman celebrant.

Burial will follow at Camp Butler National Cemetery with military honors provided by Interveterans Burial Detail of Sangamon County and the Department of Defense.

Memorial contributions may be made to: Springfield Right to Life, 316 E. Monroe, Springfield, IL 62701 or the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, 524 E. Lawrence Ave., P.O. Box 1667, Springfield, IL 62705.

Please visit Virgil's online life story at www.butlerfuneralhomes.com to offer your condolences.