Marie A. Lippert

Marie Lippert, 92, formerly of Mt. Pleasant, passed away Friday, April 18, 2025, at McLaren Greater Lansing.

Marie was born August 2nd, 1932 at their home in Harris, MI, the first of twelve children of the late Cyril and Stella Mantei and spent her early yers living on the Hannaville Indian Reservation near her family home in Harris where she was joined by Leo, Anne and John as the family expanded. She moved to several small towns including Alpha & Hermansville in the upper peninsula as her father sought better teaching positions and Tom, Bob, Bernie and Frank were added to the family  before moving with her family to Pigeon where they lived  on a farm in Pigeon. This was where Marie liked to go for walks with her sister Anne but they would always take one of their younger brothers along to check the electrified wires around the cow pastures to test the wires to see if they were charged or safe to touch to get over them without a shock.  She also was a good person to have on your team in playing anti-I-over with her speed and throwing skills. In High School she attracted the attention of several young men including the son of the farmer who lived down the road.  Marie was a good student and played basketball on one of the first  girls teams to play sports in school. She was a 1950 graduate of Pigeon  High School. Upon graduation, she continued her education at Northeastern School of Commerce in Bay City and honed her typing and shorthand skills which enabled her to gain employment at Central Michigan University. It was there that she met her future husband, Robert Lippert. On April 2nd, 1956, they married in Spaulding, MI at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church the same Church in which her mother and father had wed and her younger sister Anne and husband Gerry would marry a few years later.

Her greatest love was her family. She was a dedicated full-time mother raising her three boys Rob, Jeff and Mark.  She spent countless hours taking her children to Little League, swim lessons, Boy Scouts and anywhere else that was needed. She returned to work as an administrative assistant in the Mt. Pleasant Public Schools to help send them all to college.

Along with raising her three children, and being the oldest child of a large family, she was always being the big sister, from hosting large family gatherings to providing housing to her younger siblings as they worked on their education at CMU.

Marie was dedicated to her Catholic faith, a faithful servant of the Lord always serving others. She was a member of Sacred Heart Parish in Mt. Pleasant for over 60 years.

Marie is survived by her three sons, Robert Lippert, Jr. of DeWitt, Jeffrey (Sue) Lippert of Grand Rapids, Mark (Cathy, Angelique, Diana) Lippert of Aptos, CA; seven grandchildren, Jacob and Spencer, Nathan and Jordan, Nicholas, Maximus, Moorea and Isabella; one great granddaughter, Kennedy; two sisters Anne (Gerry) Zmick, Sue (Ed) Nichols; five brothers, Leo (Barbara) Mantei, Tom (Pat) Mantei, Bob (Rosanne) Mantei, Bernie (Paula) Mantei, and Pete (Mary) Mantei.

She was preceded in death by her parents, three brothers John (Sue) Mantei, Frank (Dorian) Mantei, Pat (Connie) Mantei and an infant sister Judith Ann Mantei.

Special thanks to all that supported her through her later years, including Suzanne Ferris, Alicia Monroe and all the staff at Independence Village and McLaren Health.

A Funeral Mass for Marie will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Thursday, April 24, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Father Matt Gembrowski will preside. Rite of Committal will be in Calvary Cemetery followed by a luncheon at Charles R Lux Family Funeral Home. The family will receive friends at the church one hour before Mass. To watch the the Funeral Mass live, please visit this url https://www.facebook.com/share/15LKyY7Rb1/

Memorial contributions may be made to Mt. Pleasant Public Schools Education Foundation Fund. Envelopes will be available at the church and funeral home.