Leonard Donner Lipman
Leonard Lipman
Leonard Donner Lipman, born in Bayonne, New Jersey, passed away unexpectedly at home in Seattle on May 22, 2019 at the age of 81. Leonard was a very caring, intelligent and generous man with a great sense of humor.
He graduated from Michigan State University in 1962 with a BS in Psychology and enlisted in Officer Candidate School in the United States Navy at Pensacola, Florida to become a pilot. He was very proud of his 5-year service as a naval aviator. This experience helped usher him into a 30-year career as a pilot with the Northwest Airlines. He retired as a 747 captain.
Some of Leonard’s most memorable experiences were boating trips to his favorite spot, the Gulf Islands, Canada captaining the Sealestial. In retirement, he looked forward to starting each day by meeting his friends to chit chat at Starbucks. He loved to travel and watch basketball. He was a devoted “Poppy” to his grandson Luc and regularly accompanied him to his karate classes and other activities. Leonard was very happy when he became a grandfather for the second time after his granddaughter, Amira was born.
He is survived my his wife Myrna, brother David (Michele), daughter Tatum Sauer, son Sam (Debbie Chen), grandchildren Luc and Amira, nieces, grandnephews and other relatives and friends. He is predeceased by his parents Joseph and Muriel.
A memorial service will be held at Tahoma National Cemetery at 18600 SE 240th Street, Kent, WA 98042 at 10:45 a.m. on June 20, 2019.
In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made in Leonard’s name to The Patrick School, 397 Columbia Avenue, Hillside, NJ 07205 or www.thepatrickschool.org for credit card donations.
13 Responses to “Leonard Donner Lipman”
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Family Lipmans: I am soooo sorry for your loss of such a wonderful man. I worked with him and he was exactly as you describe as caring, intelligent, generous, great sense of humor and he was such a gentleman to me as well. Please know he was loved at respected at work.
Hugs, Ruthie
To the Lipman Family: I flew with Lee at Northwest. He was a wonderful person to work with. My sincere condolences to your family with your loss.
Steve Billings
Dear Lipman Family: I had the privilege of flying with Leonard when he came to Raytheon Travel Air, I looked up to Leonard as did every pilot I knew who had the privilege of sharing the flight deck with him. I am truly very sorry for your loss, as part of his aviation family I can say he will be sorely missed. He was a mentor to every pilot he flew with.
Scott Denison
I had the opportunity to fly with Len
In the Legacy for Flight Options.
He was the consummate professional, always had something good to say. He appreciated “hanging out” with pilots. It was an honor to have met him. He will be missed
Lee Lipman was a straight shooter and not bashful about letting you know if he thought you had passed word to the troops that was not right on. I enjoyed his visits and he was right probably more often than he was not right on. Gentle giant, and a gentleman. One of the “Good Guys”.
Vic Britt
A true gentleman to fly with. Blue skies Leonard.
As a Northwest Orient flight attendant, I often flew with Len in the early days of my career on the 727. Such a kind man, with a quiet sense of humor. Soar with the Angels my friend….
I knew Lenny for many years back in the New Jersey days He was a soft spoken special person
We shared many wonderful times together
Condolences to the entire family
I knew Len well, he flew many trips with me and shared a commuter apt. A true and kind gentleman always. He will be missed. My heartfelt condolences go out to his family
On a recent early morning visit to Starbucks I found Len missing and his car not parked where it always should be. I sat and waited planning to gig him for missing muster. Later an employee told me he had passed just days before. Yikes, I’m sad. He and I were Navy pilots during the same cold war years flying patrol aircraft, he on the East coast, me out West. Oh, the stories we could tell. RIP Lt. Lipman.
Leonard was a kind, generous and thoughtful brother-in-law. While I did see the New Yorker side come out in him on a few occasions Leonard was always a gentleman in the 20 years I had known him.
After he picked me up from the airport when I visited in April Leonard announced we had to take grandson Luc to his karate class. Leonard emphasized how important it was to him that Luc attend karate and swimming classes. While we watched the kids practice their karate, Leonard chuckled at some of Luc’s and the other children’s antics. You could see how proud he was when they called Luc’s name to receive the next stripe on his belt. During my stay we shared a Reuben at a local pub, watched some basketball and one of his favourite shows, The Virginian. During my stay he was as quiet as a mouse when leaving at 4:30 a.m. as he did every day. In bed at 8:00 p.m. up at the crack of dawn to go to the club and for coffee with his Starbuck friends. The coffee will always be ready for you.
“The engine is the heart of an airplane, but the pilot is it’s soul” Walter Raleigh
May you Rest In Peace Lenny.
My condolences to my dear sister Myrna, Leonard’s family, friends and former colleagues.
I had the pleasure to fly many rotation’s with Leonard and I always admired his humility and sense of humor.
As a mentor and a friend he will be missed.
My condolences to the Lipman family.
First of all, I’d like to offer my condolences to Mr. Lipman’s family and friends. He sounds like a wonderful human.
Next, this might be a longshot, but I have something that might have belonged to him.
My son inherited a house in Tacoma and found a sword engraved with the name Leonard D Lipman. The case it is in has the initials LDL & USN. I’m hoping I have found the right family, and that someone will receive this message and get back to me, even if it’s the wrong family, just so I can keep searching for the rightful owner.
My email is: cherimckay @ live.com. (without the spaces)
Thank you,
Cheri McKay