Robert Bruce "Bruce" Lippert

Other Events:

• Name: Bruce Lippert
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-344559

Notes:

Lifetimes: Outgoing nature led to a second career in the restaurant business

By Valerie Hill Special to the Record

Bruce Lippert was the sixth generation of Lipperts to live in Kitchener, his family name long associated with entrepreneurs. His forefathers ran numerous industries including clockmaking, furniture-making, even outfitting holiday coaches.

But this would not be Bruce's path. He was a people person and chose to work as a server in restaurants after a career in the insurance business.

"He had a genuine interest in people," said his sister Linda Hancock. "He was very outgoing."

That outgoing nature would be his strength when, in the early 1980s, Bruce came out as a gay man.

"Waterloo Region was more conservative back then," said son Eric Lippert. "I'm sure it was difficult for him.

"I think he handled it very well."

Eric said his dad was the most affectionate man he'd ever met, a man who modelled kindness, and who took care of others. It couldn't have been easy hiding his homosexuality as a young man, though he always chose to have a positive outlook and to see the good in everything and everyone.

That attitude would be a guiding star throughout his life.

Bruce was born May 6, 1950, in Kitchener, one of four kids of Bob and Marg Lippert. Bob worked as a veneer salesman in the furniture industry and Marg was a housing co-ordinator for Wilfrid Laurier University.

The family lived near Victoria Park, in a house built by their great-grandfather in a neighbourhood full of kids. Their early lives were idyllic, with the park at their doorstep, Hancock said. In the winter, they just needed to slip on a pair of skates and off they flew across the pond. Spring, when the geese and swans were nesting, was a bit more challenging, as there's nothing quite as ferocious as "a bird mama" protecting her young, Hancock noted. Kids had to run for their lives on the way to school, or take the long way around.

Bruce, she said, was very active and particularly loved climbing up on the dining room table or the ancient willow tree by the water.

Happy times were also spent at the Lippert cottage on Lake Huron, a place still owned by the family. It was where he learned to sail, a hobby Bruce remained passionate about throughout his life.

After Bob and Marg broke up, teenage Bruce followed his father to Quebec for a short time before returning to Kitchener. He had dropped out of high school in Grade 10 but was able to get a job in the mailroom at Mutual Life and worked his way up to underwriter.

Bruce married and the couple had two children, Eric and Heather.

"Despite the fact he was gay, he had a happy marriage," said Hancock. "He stayed friends with his wife forever."

In the early 1980s, however, Bruce knew he had to make some changes in his life. The couple divorced in 1983. He was newly single, out as a gay man, and he quit the insurance industry.

"He decided the corporate life was no longer for him," said Eric. "He and his partner bought the Magpie Café."

The little New Hamburg café was a popular spot, but it was also an exhausting business to run, with long hours. His business and life partner, Fred Rolleman, was a professional maître d'hôtel and brought an unusual level of service to the small-town eatery at the time. The couple owned the building and lived in the apartment over the café.

"They found it hard to get established," said Hancock. "They were new in town."

The couple sold the building and Rolleman went to work for restaurateur Peter Martin, retiring in 2012. Three weeks later Fred died of a heart attack.

The couple had been together for 29 years, and Bruce was heartbroken. But he would find love again. He married Bill Kirk in 2016 in a ceremony on the beach at the cottage where generations of Lipperts had been part of the close-knit community of cottagers.

Bruce continued working as a server throughout Waterloo Region until the pandemic shut many restaurants down. Two years ago, he was diagnosed with cancer. The man known for his kind heart then had to face yet another tragedy, when his brother David Lippert died this past March.


"David's death was extremely hard on Bruce," said Hancock. "He tried to be optimistic, but the reality of a younger brother dying (was too much)."

Bruce died May 12, 2023, days after he turned 73.

"He was extremely loving, passionate for life," said Hancock. "He was always upbeat."

Bruce also loved music and had eclectic tastes, Eric added: British synth pop, traditional country and Canadian folk.

"I'm going to miss his smile," said Eric.

Lifetimes: Outgoing nature led to a second career in the restaurant business (2023). Available at: https://www.therecord.com/life/2023/05/29/lifetimes-outgoing-nature-led-to-a-second-career-in-the-restaurant-business.html (Accessed: 29 May 2023).

Other Events:

• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/207137933
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-213840
• Residence: 1949, 112 David St., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Occupation: 1963, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; manufacturer's agent
• Residence: 1963, 29 Roland St., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada

Robert married Margaret Ann Reddington 12 May 1945, Vancouver, , British Columbia, Canada. Margaret was born 3 Feb 1921, New Westminster, , British Columbia, Canada; died 17 Apr 1991, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Cremated. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Military: WW2
• Name: Margaret Ann Lippert
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-123055
• Residence: 1949, 112 David St., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1963, 29 Roland St., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1968, 29 Roland St., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1972, 441 Prospect Ave., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada

Notes:

Military:
Served as a Radio Telephone Operator "B" for the Royal Canadian Air Force. Discharged from the Western Air Command, Vancouver, British Columbia

Other Events:

• Business: 31 Michael St., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; George J. Lippert Company
• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/205143834/ellroy-lowes-lippert
• Residence: Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 61 David St., Kitchener, Ontario
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-176738
• Residence: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Presbyterian
• Military: 1914, WW1; WW1, 2st Depot Battalion, Service #3132945

Ellroy married Zephy Ida Ball Swinton 7 Nov 1921. Zephy (daughter of James Swinton and Zephy Ida Ball) was born 10 Oct 1894, Stratford, Perth Co., Ontario, Canada; died 9 Feb 1986; was buried , Woodland Cem., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/205144121
• Name: Zephy Ida Ball Lippert
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-38613
• Occupation: 1921, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Teacher, Public School
• Residence: 1921, 21 Bingeman St., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1921, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Presbyterian

Other Events:

• Business: 31 Michael St., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; George J. Lippert Company
• Business: 31 Michael St., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; George J. Lippert Table Company
• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/181252082
• Residence: 29 Roland St., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-137052
• Residence: 1881, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Roman Catholic
• Occupation: 1891, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Wood Carver
• Residence: 1891, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Roman Catholic
• Occupation: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Manager, Furniture Factory
• Residence: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Presbyterian

Notes:

GEO. J. LIPPERT, WELL KNOWN MANUFACTURER, DIES SUDDENLY

Taken Ill Enroute from Kitchener to Chicago.\emdash Fails to Rally from Major Operation.

Geo. J. Lippert, owner of the Geo. J. Lippert Table Co., Kitchener, was taken ill enroute to Chicago and died suddenly July 18, at the Hammond, Indiana, Hospital two hours after an operation for acute appendicitis. He was in his 62nd year. Mr. Lippert had left Kitchener on Sunday, July 9th, by motor for Chicago, where he intended visiting the World's Fair. Word of his death therefore came as a shock to his relatives and friends. The late Mr. Lippert was born in Windsor, a son of the late Mr. and Mrs. George Lippert, and was a prominent furniture manufacturer. He became an apprentice at wood carving at the old Simpson Company located many years ago on King Street. After learning wood carving he moved to Guelph where he took charge of the wood carving department In the Bell organ and piano factory. Later he returned to Kitchener and organized his own company. Surviving are his wife and son, Ellroy, four sisters, Mrs. Otto Bolt of Chesley, Mra. Lawson Cation; Galt, Mrs. William Roth and Mrs. Gar Daynard, Kitchener, and four brothers, Herbert, Oscar, Alfred and Edward Lippert, all of Kitchener.

Waterloo Chronicle 20 Jul 1933 pg 1

George married Isabella "Belle" Lowes 12 Feb 1896, Guelph City, Wellington Co., Ontario, Canada. Isabella (daughter of James Lowes and Sophia) was born Apr 1874, Drayton, Peel Twp., Wellington Co., Ontario; died 26 Jan 1957, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Woodland Cem., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Bella Lowes
• Name: Isabella "Belle" Lippert
• Residence: 29 Roland St., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-176737
• Residence: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Presbyterian

Other Events:

• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/214081238
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-185250
• Occupation: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Salesman, Dry Goods
• Residence: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Presbyterian
• Occupation: 1921, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Merchant, Dry Goods
• Residence: 1921, 21 Bingeman St., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1921, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Presbyterian

James — Zephy Ida Ball. Zephy was born 6 Feb 1862, Caledonia, Haldimand Co., Ontario, Canada; died 24 Mar 1940, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Hamilton, Wentworth Co., Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/214081246
• Name: Zephy Ida Swinton
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-185251
• Residence: 1921, 21 Bingeman St., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1921, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Presbyterian