Recently, a gentleman in our community died, and it is my intention with this communication to simply acknowledge his passing and to highlight the many reasons of my and many others' high regard for him.

Mr. Walter Lipfert, originally from the Jamesville/Syracuse area, was one of the original school psychologists in this area and worked for our local BOCES, serving in the Moravia and Southern Cayuga School Districts for over 30 years. He also served school communities at Port Byron, and Blessed Trinity School, having originally been a social studies and reading teacher prior to his work as a school psychologist. Walt also served preschoolers at the E. John Gavras Center for several years, and was known as the “guy who always had a good joke to tell” in his work as a leader of the Drinking Driver Program classes that were held at BOCES.

Additionally, Walt conscientiously and capably served on a number of boards of various human service agencies in our community, among them CHAD, the Cayuga County STOP-DWI program, the Cayuga County Community Services Board, and the Gavras Center. He also performed numerous volunteer responsibilities for St. Mary's Church for the past several years. He additionally provided informal support (humbly and in an unheralded manner) and guidance to countless individuals and families in the area.

Walt consistently performed these various professional and volunteer duties with an extremely optimistic and good-humored style that was both memorably endearing and constructive to the problems/challenges at hand. He was straightforward and highly supportive in his communication style.

Walt leaves behind his wife, children, and grandchildren, clients, students, and many, many friends and associates who will long remember and cherish his jokes, stories, and information pertinent to the topic (ranging from developmental issues of school children to history to sports, and beyond). But above all to be valued from Walt's life is the caring, concern, even love for his fellow traveler in this life, at all social and economic levels - demonstrated by mostly the “small” interactions in our existence that means so much to all of us.

He is certainly missed.

Stephen Coleman

Auburn