PINPOINTE RESIDENT PROFILE
Wissing Family
By Patricia Hudson
Roots Run Deep in Cyess Creek Lakes
(left to right) Matt with Hudson, Kaleb, Samantha, Sandra with Ellie Photo Credit: Patricia Hudson
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fter raising three children, Cypress Creek Lakes residents Matt and Sandra Wissing became “empty nesters” in 2007, when their youngest went off to college. It was quite a surprise when in 2015, siblings Christina, John, and Jessica each wound up buying houses in the CCL community. Sandra was ecstatic. “I was so excited to have them all so close, I had always teased them that if we paid for college, they could not leave Houston. If I don’t see them every day, I talk to them on the phone multiple times, especially my girls. We are a very close family.” Sandra recalls when she first met Matt, “It was at a mutual friend’s high school graduation party in Galveston in 1980. I had a boyfriend at the time, but thought Matt was cute. Another girl told me ‘Hands off! Matt’s mine!’ That’s when I decided I was interested!” After dating for 2.5 years, Matt asked Sandra to marry him over sandwiches on her lunch break. “He’s become more romantic over the years; we’ve been married for 39 years this coming November,” shares Sandra. 6 April | May 2021
Matt has been working at NOV since 1987, starting as a welder/machinist, and is now a design engineer. “Matt traveled the world for work, sometimes for 90-100 days at a time; I stayed home to hold down the fort,” explains Sandra. “I went from stay-at-home mom to stay-athome grandma, always there for the grandkids.” The oldest of the Wissing children, Christina, is a sale experience lead at HPE. Her husband, Bryan “Rip” Ripkoski, is a senior vertical engineer at Thyssenkrupp. “We call them the rebels of the family because they moved out of CCL last year, but they are only two miles away, in Bridgeland,” says Sandra. The Ripkoskis have two children: Samantha, 17, and Kaleb, 15, both students at Bridgeland High School. Kaleb likes golfing, fishing, playing Call of Duty, and driving his golf cart. Samantha enjoys spending mom and dad’s money shopping. She loves to organize and hang out with her friends. John followed in his dad’s footsteps, and works in the same department at NOV. John and Nikki are engaged; they dote on their fur babies, Jemma and Maya. An
