Dr. Stanley W. Lipinski

Stanley W. Lipinski, 90 Orthopedic Surgeon Bradenton- Stanley W. Lipinski passed away of natural causes on October 25, 2014. He had just turned 90, but it had been a remarkable 90 years. He was born on October 6, 1924 outside of Winnipeg, Canada to his father, a Prussian immigrant named Stanislaus Wnuk Lipinski, and his mother Caroline Spraka whose family had con from Czechoslovakia. The youngest of three children, his life was forever altered by the death of his father when he was 6 months old. Having no money or prospects in Canada, his mother moved back to her home town, Minto, North Dakota. A prairie town of 550 people made up mainly of immigrants from Poland, Germany, Norway, and Ireland. Stan always said residing in Minto was like living at the United Nations. He grew up dirt poor but never knew it. Being the youngest of 11 people in the family caused him strange dieting fetishes. At Thanksgiving dinner, his children would always ask him why he ate the turkey""s feet, neck and gizzards. ""That""s all that was left for me"" he would always reply. It was in Minto that he met and fell in love with Donna Marie Wilson (Dee) his first and only love. Later, he admitted that when he was 15 the farthest placed he might have traveled would be Chicago. Being an orthopedic surgeon was the last thing on his mind. He remembered all his life that during the depression the homeless people traveled west on the Union Pacific Railroad in search of a job. As poor as Stan""s family was, no homeless person was ever denied a sandwich when they stopped by his house. This experience stayed with him his whole life. All the changed when he joined the U.S. Marines during World War II in 1943. For the next four years he served as a proud Marine as a quarter master in San Diego, Shanghai and other parts of the South China Sea . Coming back to Minto in 1947, he made the best (and maybe luckiest) decision of his life to marry Dee. His second lucky break was when he applied for and received benefits under the G.I. Bill which allowed him to attend and graduate from Purdue, University of Minnesota and later attend medical school from the Northwestern University. After saving some money as a general practitioner in Hibbing, Minnesota, Stan went on to become an Orthopedic Surgeon, doing his residency at the renowned Campbell Clinic in Memphis, Tennessee. After his residency ended and having no money, he had two choices. Going back to North Dakota or moving to Lakeland, Florida. Remembering well his childhood delivering newspapers in minus 40 degree below zero weather made the choice easy for him. He and Dee moved to Lakeland in 1958 where he joined the Watson Clinic, a then relatively small clinic of 12 physicians and became its 13th partner. For the next 34 years, he fixed thousands of broken bones and performed untold surgeries for Polk County and surrounding counties"" residents. Among his many honors he was elected to be the President of the Eastern Orthopedics Association, the mort prestigious society in North America. Stan and his partners established the standard procedure in the U.S. for performing hip surgery to reduce pain and recovery time. Stan and Dee found the time to raise four children, Mark, Jane, Mary and Gail. Probably because of their small town upbringing, both loved traveling the world, hitting every continent except Antarctica. Our family learned many valuable lessons from Stan during his 90 years. In no particular order they include eating roasted turkey feet, the value of hard work, the true meaning of education, how to remain humble (well not every child learned that one), the value of family, the value of hard work (yes we know we are repeating ourselves, but Stan worked harder than anyone we ever knew), loyalty to friends and compassion to the poor. On the other hand, he was at best a poor golfer and the world""s worst fisherman. But one could not have been a better father. Preceding him in death were his wife of 60 years, Dee Lipinski and his daughter, Mary Moon. He is survived by his remaining children, Mark Lipinski, his wife Marilee Lipinski, Jane Luger, her husband Jim Luger and Gail Gilberti and her husband Jim Gilberti as well as his grandchildren David and Karen Luger and Dorothy Putman. He was ultimately blessed with a great grandchild Gracie Putman. A good Catholic boy to the end, a funeral mass will be celebrated at the Church of the Resurrection on Saturday, November 1, 2014 at 10:00 am. Don""t be bashful about coming if you are not Catholic; Stan at one time or another went to every church and synagogue in Lakeland. He did the same thing as a boy in Minto, North Dakota. Stan would be delighted if you would make a donation to any charity of your choice. If you think about it, it would be nice if you could put on the check ""In memory of Stan Lipinski"". There is no need to send flowers. Instead, Stan would be grateful if you would do an unexpected and unsolicited act of kindness for someone in need. You don""t even have tell the person ""it""s for Stan"". Stan, I'm sure, will figure it out and be pleased. Service: 11/01/2014 Resurrection Catholic Church 3720 Old Highway 37, Lakeland, FL 33813