Ethel B Lipscomb

Ethel Brust Lipscomb, a thirty-year resident of New Braunfels, Texas, was received into the loving care of her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on August 1, 2017. She was born on December 30, 1928, in Wharton, Texas, to the late Reverend Paul G. Brust and Amanda Engelking Brust. As the daughter of a Missouri Synod Lutheran minister, Ethel spent her childhood years in many different towns in Texas, including Giddings, Dime Box, Mercedes, and Mannheim. Ethel began playing piano at a very early age, and at 12 years old, she was the accompanist for the high school choir in Mannheim. Later, as a classically trained pianist, Ethel received a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Mary Hardin-Baylor College ( UMHB), where she was the winner of the Presser Scholarship for 1948 and 1949, President of Alpha Chi, a national scholarship society, and a member of Historical-Phila literary society. Ethel received her Master of Music in Piano Performance from The University of Texas. She married Thomas Garland Lipscomb, II, on June 1, 1957, in Baytown, Texas. They spent forty-nine wonderful years together before Tom’s death in 2006.

Having studied piano under Dr. Walter Gilewicz at Mary Hardin-Baylor, Ethel was a third-generation student of Johannes Brahms, Peter Tchaikovsky, Robert Schuman, and Franz Liszt. During her years of teaching at Lee College and at her home in Baytown, Texas, Ethel instilled her knowledge, love of music, and dedication to perfection in countless aspiring young musicians. She enjoyed teaching piano and stayed in touch with many of her students over the years.

The descendant of a long line of Missouri Synod Lutheran pastors, Ethel’s greatest passion was studying the Bible and learning all she could about the Lord. Through numerous Bible studies and much personal research, she consistently grew in her faith and her understanding of the Word, which she freely shared with others. She had committed much scripture to memory, and was always ready to offer words of encouragement, salvation. healing, and hope with those around her.

Ethel was a loving, patient mother, who taught her children how to work hard, to pursue excellence, and to laugh as much as possible. She was also a wonderful grandmother to her four grandchildren. She was never too busy to play games, to teach a little piano lesson, or to tell funny jokes with them. Ethel loved to laugh and smile, even at the very end of her life.

Ethel is preceded in death by her parents, her loving husband Tom and her three siblings, Mildred, Melvin, and Orville. She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Thomas and Kari Lipscomb of Overland Park, Kansas; her daughter and son-in-law, David and Mary Margaret Lipscomb Pryor of New Braunfels; her nephew and niece Carl and Ruth Haddick of Mexia, Texas; and her grandchildren Christina and Amanda Pryor and Anna and Thomas Lipscomb.

Visitation will be held from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM on Saturday, August 12, 2017, at Cross Lutheran Church with the family present to greet family and friends during that time. The funeral service is scheduled for 10:00 AM on Saturday, August 12, 2017, at Cross Lutheran Church, 2171 E. Common St., with Pastor Don Fraker officiating. Burial will follow the same day at Cedar Grove Cemetery in Trinity, Texas.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be given to the Building Fund at Grace Preparatory Academy of New Braunfels, 1600 River Rd., New Braunfels, TX 78132.

The family would like to thank the loving and kind staff at Rio Terra Assisted Living Facility who made Ethel’s last years peaceful and enjoyable.