THEY SAY teamwork makes the dream work. For Linda and Roland (better known as Tippy) Tipps of Winchester, it has made the dream work and been the key to 61 successful years of marriage. Their marriage revolves around busy schedules, long days, and countless sports events. The couple has become a staple in the Huntland sports community, devoting much of their lives to it. But they wouldn’t have it any other way. For the Tipps, it has become one of the keys to their marriage.
A life involved in sports was in the cards since the beginning for this couple as they met for the first time at a basketball game.
“My best friend, Linda Holcomb, asked me to go to a basketball game at Huntland with her in 1958, and she introduced me to Tippy,” said Linda.
About a year would pass before Tippy would ask Linda out to a basketball game at Tullahoma High School. Hitting it off, they would spend the next three years attending numerous sporting events while falling in love.
On Christmas Day in 1960, with the blessing of Linda’s parents, Tippy gave the gift of a marriage proposal. Linda accepted, and the couple wed almost six months later on May 27, surrounded by family and friends.
IT’S ALL ABOUT SPORTS.
When Linda says that their lives revolve around sports, she isn’t kidding. Not only did Tippy coach Little League for 25 years, but he also simultaneously assisted with the Franklin County High School football team.
After the couple married, and while continuing to coach Little League, he began teaching and coaching at Clark Memorial in 1961. In 1979, he moved to South Junior High School, where he coached basketball, football, and track. In 1985, he made his final move to Huntland High School, where he taught and coached. And coming along for the ride and in full support was Linda.
“When he coached at Clark Memorial, I kept the scorebooks and went to all the ballgames,” she said. “When we got to South and Huntland, like at Clark Memorial, I was with him on the bus and going to the events. I kept the scorebooks, and I would stay with the girls at the track meets and basketball camps and help chaperone the teams. It’s always been about supporting him, and it’s always been about sports.”
Not wanting to take all the credit, Linda said that Tippy has tremendously supported her. Throughout her career, Tippy was always there to help Linda do whatever tasks she needed.
“I supported him in what he did, but he also supported me,” Linda explained. “When I took the job at the hospital, I was in payroll but became the [human resource] director. I had some long days, especially around payroll time. He was always willing to assist or wait for me and never complained. The best part was when he retired. He said he’d take me whenever I wanted to go shopping. However, he doesn’t do a lot of shopping. He might get out of the car every once in a while, but he spends the rest of the time, maybe eight or nine hours, waiting in the car for me to do what I want.”
BIG BLUE ALWAYS.
Tippy said their involvement in sports has allowed them to meet a lot of people and have them become a part of their lives. They have watched their children play sports or be in the band at Franklin County and Huntland and now enjoy doing the same with their grandchildren at Huntland and Tennessee Wesleyan University.
“We have been a part of many sporting events and interacted with so many great people and kids while becoming lifetime friends with them,” Linda said. “It is such a special thing. We’re still going to games, and we’ll go until our grandchildren graduate. And we may still go after that. It’s funny; Tippy and I met there, and after all these years, we are still at Huntland.”
THE BLESSINGS OF BEING A TEAM.
Linda and Tippy are indeed a team. You can’t usually find one without the other, and if so, it usually causes some concern.
“If we’re going somewhere, we go together. It’s very seldom we do anything separately,” explained Linda. “Recently, our grandson played basketball at Huntland Middle School. My brother had asked me to go to the Veterans Program at Cowan with him. Everybody asked Tippy where I was when I didn’t attend the ballgame with him. Everybody wants to know where the other is when we’re not together.”
Proud of the life they have made together with their two sons, a daughter-in-law, and three grandchildren, both said that it’s all about being a team and supporting each other.
“It has to be a partnership,” they said. “You gotta give and take. It can’t just be what one person wants; it has to be the compromise of both.” GN
