Raymond (Skip) Alvah Nippress

TEMPE – Raymond (Skip) Alvah Nippress, 70, of Tempe, AZ passed away peacefully on the morning of April 7, 2021.

Skip was welcomed to this world in Concord, CA in 1950, the youngest of four children, born to Wilda (Starkweather) and Charles Archer Nippress. He was married to Carol (Strickland Johnston) for 33 years, and they shared a passion for camping, hiking, biking, and working out.

He is survived by his wife, three siblings, Charles, William, and Sandy (John); three sons, Kristopher, Jesse, and Jacob; and four grandchildren.

Skip attended high school in Euclid, OH, and joined the U.S. Air Force after graduation. He was a Vietnam veteran (1969-70), subsequently stationed at Williams Air Force base in Mesa AZ for four years. He was a mechanical engineer and manager at Motorola (the 52nd Street and the Elliot/Price facilities) until he retired after 30 years in 2004. He shifted attention to raising his boys and building his business: Skip’s Buggy and Fab Shop. On most days, Skip could be found tinkering in his well-equipped garage building dune buggies or anything you could imagine from scratch – he believed “I don’t need to buy it, I can build it.” He traveled to ‘the sand’ regularly in Rocky Point, CA, and UT with family and friends to race over the dunes. He could talk ‘engines’ with the best and was the embodiment of positive thinking and always looking at the glass ‘half full.’

Friends are invited to join a celebration of his life at a memorial service on April 30th at the Tempe Mortuary, 405 East Southern Avenue Tempe, AZ 85282. Military honors are accorded promptly at 10 am. In lieu of flowers or donations, memorials may be made to the Mayo Clinic Phoenix, and to the Hospice of the Valley.