Etta Alene Dillehay Tippins, age 96, passed away September 25, 2021, at the home of her daughter in Florence, AL.  She was born December 10, 1924, in Gates, Tennessee, to Robert W. and Sarah Alice McNeill Dillehay.

Growing up in Memphis, she was a high school senior when Pearl Harbor was attacked.  A member of the Greatest Generation, she immediately went to aircraft mechanic school after graduation to prepare to help with the war effort.  Soon she was sent to Brookley AFB in Mobile, where she met a handsome Georgia boy, Charles Banks Tippins, Jr.  They were married  September 27, 1943, in Amarillo, Texas, where Charlie was stationed in the Air Force.  After the war, they returned to Mobile from various postings and raised their family of three daughters.  Their retirement years were spent in Gulfport, MS and Searcy, AR.  Mr. Tippins died in 2000 after 56 years of marriage.  Mrs. Tippins has been a resident of Florence for nine years.

She was a faithful member of the Church of Christ and served alongside her husband as an elder’s wife for many years.  She was known for her hospitality and good works.  At her death, she was a member of Chisholm Hills Church of Christ.

Besides her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by her brother, R. W. Dillehay, Jr., and an infant sister, Martha Nell Dillehay.

She is survived by three daughters, Patricia Alene Perry DeForest, Milton, FL, Cheryl Ann Lyons, Florence, AL, and Claire Denise Miller Dorriety (Rickey), Katy, TX; six grandchildren, Marcie Denise Perry Willis, Gulf Breeze, FL, Dale Kenneth Lyons, Jr., Florence, AL, Sharon Diane Perry Campisi, Tucson, AZ,  Michael H. Miller, Rincon, GA, Edward Banks Lyons, Pegram, TN, and Jennifer Alene Miller Joyner, Belton, TX; eleven great-grandchildren, and two great-great grandchildren.

There will be a graveside service at Pine Crest Cemetery, Mobile, AL, on Friday, October 1, at 11:30 a.m.   Williams Funeral Home is in charge of arrangement in Florence, and Pine Crest Funeral Home and Cemetery is directing arrangements in Mobile.  Condolences may be left at wfunerals.com