Helen Lippencott

Helen May Lippencott, (nee Sampson), 98, valued family and faith throughout her long life, passed away on Sunday, February 25, 2024. Although she never grew taller than 4’11”, she was a tiny but mighty matriarch to a large and loving clan.

Mother to 7, Grandmother to 16, and Great grandmother to 15 (all living and still friends), she was the anchoring heart center of her family. Nicknamed “Queenie” by her father, the name stuck and she was also Aunt Queenie to dozens of nieces and nephews. For decades, anyone within a few feet of Helen was bound to see the family pictures she carried.

She felt blessed by God and gave all credit for her good fortune to His counsel. But Helen did not have an easy life. Born on November 8, 1925 in Weehawken, NJ, she grew up in the Great Depression and lost her mother when she was 10 years old. She went to live with her married half-sister, Betty, because her father, an engineer on merchant ships, was at sea for long periods. She had to quit school as a teenager and worked in a slaughterhouse and later in the Newark shipyards during WWII.

She married George Henry Lippencott on February 5, 1949. For the next 25 years she was a stay at home mom tending to seven children in the family home in North Bergen.

In her 40’s she returned to night school to earn her GED and then her license in nursing to fulfill a lifelong dream of following in her mother Ethel’s footsteps. She worked as an LPN at the Lutheran Home in Jersey City for twenty years, caring for the elderly patrons as if they were her own family.

Although she never learned to drive, Helen managed to travel widely in her later years. With her husband George she traveled to Ireland, Italy, and Hawaii, and took 32 cruises to various ports in the Caribbean and Alaska, as well as many cross-country road trips camping with children and grandchildren. She demonstrated her adventurous spirit in her 50’s when she ventured on a solo trip to Denmark, where her Father was born, to attend a nursing conference.

She is survived by her children: Linda Grinde, George (Laura) Lippencott, Helene (Chuck) Emery, Doreen (Dino) Russo, Priscilla (Tony) Tabbacchino, Dr. Robert (Jami) Lippencott, Joanne (Tom) Mayer; Grandchildren: Lynett, Arlene, George III, Danielle, Daria, Dean, BreeAnn, Bente Leigh, Ross, Dana, Ken, Anthony, Brooke, Daniel, Michael and their spouses. Great Grandchildren: Zachary, Alexandra, McKenzie, Jayce, Tyler, Emi, Morgan, Jasper, Kathryn, Silas, Thor, Adriana, Onyx, Zen, Orion.

A visitation for Helen will be held Saturday, March 2, 2024 from 3:00 PM - 7:00 PM at Goble Funeral Home, 22 Main St., Sparta, NJ 07871. Funeral service will be celebrated Monday, March 4th, at 12:00PM at Redeemer Lutheran Church 37 Newton Sparta Rd., Newton, NJ. Interment will immediately follow at Sparta Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, Memorial contributions in Helen’s name may be made to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, https://www.stjude.org/donate/donate-to-st-jude.html