Kenny Shipman

Ralph Kenneth Shipman, 81, known lovingly as Kenny, of Columbus, Ohio, passed away Thursday, July 6, 2023, at the Ohio Health Kobacker House following a brief stay due to complications from stage four metastatic cancer.

Kenny was born on the 18th of March 1942. The fourth child of eight to Ralph Willard Shipman and Margret Mae Myers of Birmingham, Ohio, he is preceded in death by his parents, his sisters, Clea Anna (Roger) Helmlinger and Sandra Shipman; his first wife, and the mother of his three children, Sara Joy Winget Valk; and his second wife Betty Shipman.

As a baby, he was diagnosed with glaucoma and by the age of eight his eyesight was so poor that Kenny moved to Columbus, Ohio to attend the Ohio State School for the Blind (OSSB). While at school, not knowing what the future would hold, he met and dated the woman who would later become his third wife.

He is survived by his wife, Debbie (Feazell/Tolle) Shipman, Columbus, Ohio; his two sons, KG Shipman and Chadwick Shipman, Greeneville, Tennessee; his daughter, Jacinda “Juice”(Lucille) Festin, Worthington, Ohio; his step-son, Jeffrey (Michelle) Tolle, Delaware, Ohio; his step-daughter Joyce Tolle, Columbus, Ohio; his step-grandchildren, Brandon (Olivia) Tolle, Delaware, Ohio, Jason Tolle, Columbus, Ohio, Donald (Lizzie) Stewart, Columbus, Ohio, and Maggie Perkins-Tolle, Columbus, Ohio; his siblings, Willard “Sonny” (Judy) Shipman, Cambridge, Ohio, Audrey (Jerry) Dyer, Byesville, Ohio, Naomi Konicek, Clutier, Iowa, Donald “Gene” (Barbara) Shipman, Antrum, Ohio, and Edward “Ed” (Eunice) Shipman, Wapakoneta, Ohio; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Kenny graduated from OSSB in 1962 wanting to pursue a career in Broadcasting and Radio, being that jobs in radio and broadcasting were not plentiful for blind individuals, he decided to pursue a career in the Ohio Business Enterprise Program (BEP). After serving 50 years in the Ohio BEP, where he served customers in many different state government buildings as well as rest stop facilities he got his opportunity to fulfill his lifelong dream and began working at VoiceCorp, a non-profit radio reading service located in Columbus, Ohio that “enriches lives by reading printed news and information to people who are blind, have low vision, or other conditions that prevent reading.”

Visitation will be held Friday July 14, 2023, from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. with a service to be held from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Shoedinger Funeral Home, located at 6699 North High St, Worthington, Ohio 43085.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Ohio State School for the Blind. Checks can be made payable to OSSB and mailed to:

Ohio State School for the Blind

Attn: Front Office

5220 N. High St.

Columbus, OH 43214