Paul Lipinsky Memorial Service Donation
Thank you for donating to support Paul's Hospital & Memorial Fund
Our beloved father Paul Bernard Lipinsky passed away suddenly in a tragic choking accident after a 2 week battle in Intensive Care. He was 72 years old. We are seeking your donations to help cover financial expenses in our loss. Please enjoy reading about Paul's life and the details of his passing below. THANK YOU
MEMORIAL LOCATION:
St. Mary's Catholic Church, 14711 Ranch Rd 12, Wimberley, TX 78676
MEMORIAL SERVICE DATE:
Saturday, December 22, 2018
VISITATION VIEWING:
9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
ROSARY PRAYER:
10:30 AM-11:00 AM
MASS:
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
MEMORIAL RECEPTION IN ST. MARY'S PARISH HALL:
12:00 PM - 4:00 PM
If you are going to attend, please let us know by selecting the attend button for this event page located here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/638169166581218/
A MESSAGE FROM PAUL'S SON LANCE LIPINSKY:
Dearest fans, family and friends... Many of you are familiar with my work in specializing in 50's & 60's Rock & Roll. If you've ever enjoyed my music and live shows, I can proudly say my success, influences and life would have not been possible without my wonderful father Paul Lipinsky. His silent and often unassuming behind the scenes leadership not only helped inspire and nourish my career, but his unconditional dedication as a father and husband was equally as profound. My family and I are seeking your help in donating whatever you can to help pay for his hospital bills in a sudden, accidental death.
On Saturday December 15th, my family and I made the hardest decision of our life when he had to pull him off of life support after a dramatic 2 week battle in intensive care. This very healthy 72 year old man who should've had many more years to enjoy in his retirement, tragically choked on a piece of food at a wedding reception. Too much time had passed for him to receive oxygen to the brain.
There was no stone unturned to try to salvage his life but unfortunately, the accident was fatal. Privately, our family has endured a real life nightmare emotionally and financially since a sudden accident like this can leave you unprepared for the consequences that follow. If you've ever been in this situation, you know what I mean. Although he was a Vietnam veteran and the VA hospital covers most of the bills, it is one of the biggest flawed corporations in modern day health care that is no means a perfect science.
I'm reaching out to my band's fans and friends all over the world to ask for your donations to help with costs of medical and funeral bills. As you can imagine, the bills are astronomical. Anything you can donate in the X-mas season will help, even a dollar. I understand times are tight now, but you would be helping the legacy of someone who was one of the most passionate humans I knew that preserved the genre we love in his own small contribution. Here's some info on my dad Paul:
Born in Houston, TX in 1946, Paul Bernard Lipinsky had a God given talent at an early age with having a mechanical mind. This savant would later use his talent to eventually become established as one of the most respected and sought after home builders in the carpentry boom of the 1980s in south central Texas.
From early on, he learned skilled carpentry from his father who many referred to as "Tata." These same lessons would also be applied into mechanics. From being self taught working on the engine of his Cushman Eagle and Mustang scooter of the early 60's of his teenage years, to being promoted to head mechanic in Vietnam maintaining combat tanks, he applied his craft to building award winning classic cars as a hobby in his personal life.
Few knew that behind his humble and often mysterious persona, his other secret passion was music. Although he wasn't musically inclined, his taste in music was one of the most profound influences ever given to me that is still the gift that keeps on giving.
Dad always had a unmistakable, distinct ear and spiritual fervor for music. At 12 years old, he bought Link Wray's 1958 hit "Rumble" hot off the press at his neighborhood pharmacy record store in Deer Park, TX. It's no surprise that dad would be hip to the cutting edge of one of Rock & Roll's most pioneering, influential instrumentals as early as a preteen.
My grandmother Virginia took dad to what started as a family day in the park at Magnolia Gardens in Houston, TX sometime in 1955, to then stumbling on an afternoon show of a undiscovered "Elvis Presley" and his band the Blue Moon boys. This performance of only about 25 attendees historically was not only the first motion video of Elvis ever documented, but is was filmed in color. You can find it easily online. So technically, dad at 7 years old got to see the King a year before the big boom explosion of Rock & Roll.
His never failing ear for music brought some short lived joy to his Vietnam bunk makes in 1967. After a long day in Okinawa, he heard a faint, weak radio signal on his transistor radio. Thousands of miles away on foreign shores, he wrote down the name of the singer he heard on this frequency.
He sent a letter to my Grandma instructing her to find any album she could on a guy named "Jimi Hendrix." Sure enough, Grandma mailed him the record. When it arrived, the whole squad was huddled around his tiny portable record player and my dad became an overnight impromptu disc jockey. He got to introduce his homesick comrades to the new explosive innovative sound that would later become the soundtrack of the late 1960's.
When returning to the US, him and some of these same buddies won tickets through the radio to go see Hendrix live at the Hollywood Bowl. His exact words when describing Californians was, "I never seen so many freaks in one place in my life!"
I enjoy telling some of these Forrest Gump style tales when it comes to my dad and his relationship to music. From the moment I was born, he groomed me into following my dreams to become a musician and an entertainer. My sister would inherit the same affection for things before our time and our household revolved around music of the past.
His vinyl, 8 track, cassette and vhs collection was a massive lifelong endeavor. From Glenn Miller to Buddy Holly to Creedence to Wall Of Voodoo, he loved all styles of popular music. I suppose I fulfilled his dream of being on stage by him living vicariously through me and I soaked up these influences early on. When I heard the Venture's "Honky Tonk" and Elvis' Golden Hits vol 2 album coming from the analog stereo in our living room, I knew what I wanted to do with my life.
He coached me from day one and till his final years in not only music, but also being a man. The patience and sacrifices he grind stoned has a paycheck to paycheck carpenter was the definition of a hard working Texan man of integrity.
He met the love of his life Barbara in the early 80's and created a legacy that was almost cinematic at times. My mom would strengthen his already God fearing faith and introduce him to traditional Catholic values and together they lived a frugal, resourceful, happy life.
Dad loved his family, his country, God, his hoodlum friends, Rock & Roll music, hotrod cars, barbeque and cheap beer. His charisma was contagious and was forever humble at heart. Usually standing out as the older and wiser of his peers, he gave many breaks to his younger carpenter friends and like his dad, taught them the trade too.
Often times In 100 degree Texas heat, he would build fortresses over a 40 year career, providing affordable middle class shelter to a lot of happy families. His signature trademark was always a longhorn with Christmas lights placed in the eyes of the skull in the center of a beautiful hand picked rock fireplace.
Dad and cats like him, were cut from a cloth of a generation that will never be duplicated. He was a literal product of his time, echoing the culture of patriotism, mid century roots music, atomic age engineering, and creating a family legacy of the American dream. He was a natural born leader and trailblazer with a no nonsense worth ethic.
Toward the end of the summer, he built his last house in Austin, TX. This house was built with the intention for my whole family to live, including a private room/studio wing for myself. In March of 2019, we were all going to come back to live together as a family and come home to Texas after years of me touring.
Sadly, this accident happened. Although it was a tragedy, my mom, sister and I are all thankful that we got to have a great week together during Thanksgiving. I said goodbye to him and something told me to give him a bigger squeeze than usual. Now I know why.
I'm grateful that God worked in his mysterious way to give us that time together as a family. Two different contracts had strangely gotten canceled that for the life of me, I didn't understand why. I would've otherwise been on tour, preventing me from seeing him. But now I know that God allowed that precious time together and freed my schedule for a reason.
Ironically in the end, dad finally had his moment in the spotlight rather than me. He was featured in a documentary that is making it's national theatrical release soon called Almost Almost famous. You can watch the teaser clip here: https://almostalmostfamous.com/modals/webisode_2
So if there's any justice to this tragedy I can salvage, is the fact that we got to bond one last time as a family. And although he was the most mentally and physically healthy 72 year old I ever knew who still had many moons ahead of him, he did indeed live a long profound life after all. Let my dad's legacy be an inspiration to savor everyday. For today might be the last day of a loved one you care for, or perhaps your own.
Thank you Dad for your sacrifices, patience, unconditional love and limitless dreaming. As he always said in accordance with Elvis, dad loved to "TCB: Take Care of Business IN A FLASH!"
