Dave Tippin: A Remembrance

Classic “I need to see you immediately” Office Dave. “The Water Bearers” sculpture.

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Department Director

Dave was absolutely serious about the responsibilities of the position he held for 29 years as the director of the department, providing reliable, quality water at a reasonable price, dedicated to the customers and the brand. Before Tampa, he worked for the Cast Iron Pipe Research Association and the U.S. Public Health Service.

In many ways he was an old-school engineer and utility director, but he also had vision, and countless innovations, critical projects, and programs were implemented at the plants and in the department under his leadership. Some of those projects included Water Quality 2000, which made vast improvements and upgrades to what later became the David L. Tippin Water Treatment Facility. The WQ2000 initiative included a plant expansion using Actiflo, adding capacity with a smaller footprint than the existing conventional treatment, and taste and odor improvements using ozone.

Throughout all the plant projects, maintaining the architectural integrity of the historic original 1928 Mediterranean Revival filter gallery and main plant building was important to Dave. The plant was named an American Water Works Association (AWWA) historic landmark, and he displayed the award proudly in the lobby for years.

At the city Dave led the way by embracing technology with one of the first local-area networks with desktop computers in the 1990s, which included a major technology upgrade, moving away from legacy hardware and software. Again, he embraced technology in the 2000s, including a new call center for customer service, where calls were triaged for routing, which required major technology and process improvements.

He also was a pioneer in water conservation, locally and statewide, hiring one of the first manager-level positions in the industry specific to water conservation. Numerous master plans were developed and implemented for fire protection, galvanized and asbestos cement main replacement, pipe lining, supervisory control and data acquisition that was upgraded through the years, Hillsborough River dam improvements, aquifer storage and recovery, and the south Tampa area reclaimed water project.

I remember being on a job site with Dave when water pipe over 100 years old was found in service. We took a picture and an etching of the pipe with the 1888 date and sent it off to AWWA to get certified as a utility having pipe in service that was over 100 years old. Dave was really excited (for Dave, that meant a big smile) when we found that pipe.

We were lucky to be a part of his world and his steady, long-term guidance, and many of us continued working for the department because it was our work family. He would always listen to our opinions; he may have said no, but he would always listen. And sometimes, even when he said no, he’d go

Continued from page 6 away, think about it for a while and come back and say, “You know, I was thinking about that and. . .” and then the answer was a yes.

You can see in one of the pictures included here some of his achievements as a past AWWA chair, Fuller Awardee, an AWWA life member, and more. He also was the president of the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies for two terms, and while in that role, he went to Washington, D.C., and testified before Congress during the deliberations for the 1996 amendment of the Safe Drinking Water Act. When he returned from the trip, he brought back one of the pens used to sign the amendment.

The Two Daves

At the office we joked that there were two Daves: “Office Dave” and “Out of Office Dave,” since people outside of the office seemed to experience a different person. The first Dave I met many years ago was Office Dave, who could be gruff and intimidating (remember, he did call himself the Tampa Water Troll). For his retirement, my husband, Karl (who also worked for the department), and I made him a special department troll doll with a stand. After many years, much humor, and strength in numbers (Don’t go it alone!), we all kind of wore him down and got him to become Out of Office Dave, even in the office.

My kids immediately saw right through that Office Dave demeanor—they loved Dave instantly and whatever he said, it was like God had said it. “The boss said it’s time to lock the doors” (lock the car doors, put your seatbelts on). After he retired in 2003, the “water kids lunch” started, and we would get together for lunch at least several times a year and catch up, especially if someone came in from out of town. He kept up with many friends and past coworkers at lunches throughout the years.

Dave was family to us. For me, this was especially true after I lost my parents, and my kids have never forgotten him. My daughter, Amanda, who spent time with me at work when I had to attend a late meeting or finish a project, now works at the Tippin facility as an environmental engineer and has been able to see some of its evolution over the last few years.

Influence of Family

If Dave was more of a traditionalist, an engineer, introverted, and conservative, his beloved wife, Nancy, who died of cancer in 1999, was the perfect foil. She was an artist—witty, outgoing, and virtually sparkling with energy.

Art and an appreciation of history and preservation were always a part of Dave’s work culture. Nancy touched the department by opening his eyes to art and she created the department logo, which is a simple and graceful three lines depicting water.

There was a portion of the department’s budget that was dedicated to art in public places. The money was used over the years for art—water art when possible—including commissioning the painting “The River” by Dr. Gladys Shafran Kashdin. “The Water Bearers,” originally a small sculpture Nancy made, was cast and installed at the facility when it was dedicated to Dave.

He was so proud of his two sons, Rew and Brad, and all that they accomplished, and his granddaughter, Gwen. Rew has worked in the theatre since high school and is also an accomplished writer—so much so that Dave once brought him one of the reports I had proudly written to review. The report was completely marked up in red (“Your ‘Engineering English’ is hard at work, with heavy Overcapitalization Because Every Engineering Word is Important!”) and his comments were some of the best feedback I’ve ever received.

Brad worked with children as a mental health counselor, wrote a novel, and now continues the family tradition of serving the public as the development review manager in Pasco County.

Dave was also a devout Christian and attended Palma Ceia United Methodist Church for as long as I can remember. After he retired, he volunteered there and met his cherished companion of the last 21 years, Gail Stephan.

He truly enjoyed his church, his family, and the continued water kids events and lunches with other industry members. The Tampa Water Troll will be profoundly missed.

Marjorie Craig, P.E., is utilities department director at Village of Tequesta. S