Two weeks ago we placed this item in our “Winthrop Sports Through the Years” column:
“60 years ago
“November 5, 1964
“The undefeated Winthrop High football team will be seeking win number seven when coach Ed MacFarland’s squad meets Saugus this week. Winthrop, which already has clinched a share of an NEC title, defeated Marblehead, 34-20, this past week. The contest never was in doubt as Winthrop jumped out to a 32-0 lead at the half and cruised the rest of the way. Steve ‘The Tank’ Adamson, Winthrop’s 215-pound halfback, ripped through the Marblehead line for big gains all day, while fullback Ed Tipping bolted 47 yards for a touchdown.”
A few days later, our office received a phone call from John Tipping, who politely informed us that he, not Ed Tipping (who is no relation), is the former Viking who scored not only the touchdown noted in the news item, but two others as well, all three of which came in the second quarter in that big victory over Marblehead.
So we (i.e., the sports editor) called John to express our apologies for the mistake. And as things go for us these days, we also asked John what he’s been up to over these past six decades, which led to an hour-long conversation.
John’s journey since then is as follows: He married the former Ann Mosca of East Boston. The couple moved to Woburn, where they raised their two daughters, Jennifer and Stephanie, both of whom have become incredibly successful in the business world. Jennifer, 49, was recruited to play soccer out of high school and played at Bentley (where she came to know the late Bob DeFelice) and now works for a large international company. Stephanie, 46, also was a superb athlete who graduated from Phillips Andover Academy and the University of Pennsylvania and works in the financial services industry in San Francisco.
Both Jennifer and Stephanie have three children — which makes John and Ann the proud grandparents of six grandchildren.
After living in Woburn for 37 years, John and Ann bought a condo and returned to Winthrop nine years ago. John, who retired after a 41-year career as a sales manager with United Airlines, told us that he plays every Saturday and Sunday at the Winthrop Golf Club with a foursome that includes Alan Graham (WHS ’64), Donald Milano (WHS ’64), and Nick Rozantes (WHS ’63).
Interestingly, Alan Graham would become the brother-in-law of one of John Tipping’s teammates, Ron Miles (WHS ’66), from that 1964 football team. (Ron’s oldest brother, the late Al Miles, married Alan’s sister, Carol. They raised four children in Winthrop, Alan, Noreen, Craig, and Darren Miles.)
We also reminisced about Winthrop in the 1960s and how much the town has changed since then, though much still remains the same.
As we noted to John, after more than 50 years in the newspaper business, this mistake was not our first, and we know it certainly will not be our last.
However, sometimes mistakes can be a good thing, and in this case, it resulted in a nice conversation that brought back a lot of happy memories from our youthful days growing up in our little seaside community — and we have to admit that as much as we always strive for accuracy in the Sun-Transcript, we wouldn’t mind if we were to make a few more similar “mistakes” in the future.