Mae A. (Dower) Kipp

MAE A. (nee Dower) KIPP, 93, of West Caldwell, NJ died Wednesday, June 2, 2021 at home.

There will forever be a hole in our hearts for the woman we called “Ma” and “Grandma”.  Mae “Mae Alice” was so much more than a woman born in North Caldwell in the house her father built.

She was a celebration of true devotion to God and family.

From the time she graduated Holy Angels Grammar School to her graduation from the original Grover Cleveland High School in Caldwell she was known as one of the three “Cute Dower Girls”.

Always smiling always good natured, a true giver of her God given talents, who never wanted for anything but to have those who surrounded her be happy.

For Ann, Roberta, Maureen and Jimmy “Ma” was

-the most selfless woman we will ever meet

-the woman who was a humble as the day she was born

-the woman who we knew we could trust with lives undoubtedly

-the woman who good be bluntly honest in her own sweetness (she never lied)

-the woman who made us mad with her stubbornness yet showed us her strength

-the spirited woman who never waivered from her ideals and imparted those on us

-the woman who was always happy to pass on her Irish wisdom (when the backs of the leaves are showing its going to rain)

-the woman who always appreciated what God gave her the good and the bad

-the woman who was the head of the archery team and yes made her own bow and arrows

-the woman who always made us sit down for a family meal EVERY NIGHT

-the woman who always preferred a homemade gift to a store bought one

And -the woman who treasured a garden more than a house.

The woman who Sean, Sabrina, Bryce, Naomi, Noelle and Bethany called Grandma.

-who snuck you the answers to your math homework

-who picked out the best snacks (elephant ears)

-who when you went to her house and folded down a page in a toy catalogue magically knew exactly what you wanted

-who sent you your favorite toy

-who had the biggest smile till her dying days watching you swing on the swing in her backyard

-who always wanted to give a good haircut

-who always knew what to say to make you smile

-who never forgot to send a card or miss any special occasion

There are not enough words to celebrate the woman “Mae Alice” was however, we: Ann Szalay and her husband, Andre of Caldwell, NJ, Roberta Kipp of Chicago, Ill, Maureen Michael and her husband, Rod of Zionsville, IN and James Kipp of West Caldwell, NJ; and her six grandchildren, Sean, Sabrina, Bryce, Naomi, Noelle and Bethany will be eternally grateful that she so strongly and admirably graced our lives and enabled us to call her “Ma” and “Grandma”.

Mae was predeceased by her husband, Donald T. Kipp, in 2004, by her parents, James and Mary (nee Van Haelst) Dower and by her two sisters, Elaine Hart and her husband, Tom and Doris Dower.

A Funeral Mass will be offered at 10:00 am Friday, June 11, 2021, at Holy Angels RC Church, 465 Main St., Little Falls. Interment to follow at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Totowa.  Memorial donations can be made to St. John’s Soup Kitchen, 22 Mulberry Street, Newark, NJ 07102 (www.njsc.org/donate).