Glenn Arthur Zipp died peacefully Saturday, February 17, 2024 at the age of 104 (ish), nodding off while drinking coffee and reading the morning newspaper in the sunroom of his residence in Venice, Florida. He was preceded in death by his two faithful dogs, Lulu and Tilly, whose twice a day walks attributed to his longevity. When he turned 100 and was asked about the secret to his longevity, he remarked that in his family, dying before you're in your 90's is considered a premature death. He subscribed to the view that in order to live long, avoid dying!
He leaves behind his wife of some 65 years, Julie Colwell Zipp, his best friend and soulmate.
Surviving are five children: Sibylle Lahood, Christopher Zipp (Julz), Jennifer Tyre (Dan), Alexander Zipp (Dr. Michele Pennington), and Melanie Anne Remacle, as well as nine grandchildren: Ryan, Trevor, Jared, Brianna, Aeris, Holden, Ivy, Catalina, & Theron and many great-grandchildren. Family and friends were of utmost importance to Glenn. He rarely forgot a birthday and regarded his time with them as well spent.
Glenn was born on January 25, 1938 in Merrill, Wisconsin to Fred & Olga Jirovec Zipp, both deceased. He was one of seven children sharing the love of his parents with brothers Robert, Phil (Caroline), Lawrence (Mary), and Patrick (Linda), and had two sisters, Marge (Phillip) Kamke and Debbie (Tim) Symonds. Glenn had an idyllic childhood growing up in a small town in Northern Wisconsin with an extended nearby family of grandparents (including his beloved grandmother, Marguerite, who lived beyond the age of 102), 12 aunts and uncles and many cousins. The Jirovec family farm and those of his mother's brothers which he frequently visited, were within a half-hour bike ride. His parents and grandparents on his father's side had cottages on Lake Alice outside of Tomahawk, Wisconsin when he was growing up and provided many fond memories of boating and fishing as a youth.
After graduating from Merrill High School, Glenn went on to earn a Baccalaureate degree at Wisconsin State College in Stevens Point, and a Master of Arts at the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Glenn was an active alumnus of his graduate school and served on its Alumni Board of Directors for many years, including as President. In 2003, he received an ILIR Distinguished Alumni Award in recognition of his alumni service and professional accomplishments. His many affiliations and civic activities included the Universalist Unitarian Church of Peoria, in which he served in various positions, including President of the Board. He is a past President of the Peoria Chapter of ACLU; past President of the Peoria Planned Parenthood Chapter; founding member of the Friends of Glen Oak Zoo (predecessor to the Peoria Zoological Society); member of the Illinois
Valley Yacht and Canoe Club of Peoria; long time Board member of the Central Illinois Landmarks Foundation; Board member of the Contemporary Art Center of Peoria; and past Commissioner on the Peoria Housing Commission where he served as Chairman.
Glenn and his wife Julie for twenty years had a second home in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico where they wintered until 2019 when they relocated to Venice, Florida for the winter months. During his stays in San Miguel de Allende, he served as a volunteer delivery driver to over a dozen of the 36 rural kitchens supported by the non-profit organization Feed The Hungry, and was a member of the Midday Rotary Club of San Miguel de Allende and of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of San Miguel de Allende. Two Peoria civic accomplishments that he was most proud of were serving as Fundraising Committee Chair for the successful campaign to build an animal hospital at the Glen Oak Zoo, and serving as a member of the committee that developed the Veterans Memorial Park adjacent to the Grand Army of the Republic Hall in downtown Peoria.
Glenn's professional career was primarily with the National Labor Relations Board, a regulatory agency of the Federal Government which administers the National Labor Relations Act governing union management collective bargaining. Starting as a Field Examiner in 1964, he held various supervisory positions with the Chicago, Cincinnati and Peoria offices, the latter of which he headed for 25 years before his retirement in October, 2000 as Regional Director. While with the NLRB, he was appointed a member of the Federal Government's Senior Executive Service. He was the first in his agency to be selected for a SES sabbatical, which he devoted to teaching for an academic year (1990-91); the fall semester at his alumni graduate school and for six months during the Michaelmas and Hilary terms as a Visiting Fellow at Templeton College, Oxford University in the United Kingdom. Prior to his NLRB service, he was employed as a Budget Analyst with the US Dept. of Agriculture, Commodity Stabilization Service in Evanston, Il and as a Field Labor Economist with the US Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Statistics, Chicago Office. During his 38-year Federal Civil Service career, Glenn taught as a part-time instructor at Sangamon State University (Peoria campus), Xavier University in Cincinnati, and for 12 years at Bradley University in Peoria. After his retirement from the NLRB he was self-employed for 18 years as an arbitrator-mediator of employment disputes in the private and public sectors. His arbitration listings included Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the American Arbitration Association, IDOT/Illinois AFL-CIO Jurisdiction Disputes PLA roster, FINRA (the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) roster of arbitrators and Illinois Central Management Services/AFSCME Council 31 permanent roster. Glenn devoted his entire career as a neutral in labor management relations, deeply committed to the view that collective bargaining between organized labor and free enterprise corporations are essential institutions in a democracy. In 2017, the Chicago Chapter of the Labor and Employment Relations Association honored him with its Distinguished Service Award.
Glenn's hobbies included reading and enjoying art. He was an avid sailor and owned a 22' Columbia sailboat, Boa Vida, for thirty years. He was a member of the IVY Club IORF racing fleet, racing mostly on Wednesday evenings and crewing on Saturdays for skipper and friend, Al Convington in the Capri Fleet for some 25 plus years. For 25 years, he was an avid runner and member of the Illinois Valley Striders Club. He won one running trophy which his wife Julie conveniently misplaced to prevent the accomplishment from going to his head. He lived a full life, and for that he is grateful.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to one of Glenn's passions, The Contemporary Art Center of Peoria www.peoriacac.org and/or the Illinois Valley Yacht & Canoe (IVY) Club www.ivyclub.org.