Travis Beall “Chaddy” Lipscomb

         Travis Beall “Chaddy” Lipscomb, 90, of Lufkin, was born November 12, 1930, in Franklin, Texas, the only child of William Travis Lipscomb, Jr. and Beulah (Beall) Lipscomb, and died Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Lufkin.

          Travis was known as “Chaddy” his whole life until moving to California in 1960. His cousin the late Dr. James Stegall of Bryan, a small child just learning to talk, pronounced the new baby’s name that way and it was accepted by everyone from that day. Chaddy grew up in Bryan, attending the First Baptist Church and the Bryan Public Schools. He was a Stephen F. Austin High School Bronco to the bone. He loved to roam the Navasota River area with his dog and his gun. He was also all sports all the time, winning many trophies in Track, was a Letterman in Football and held the State Pole Vault Championship at a time when cane poles were still used. He was President of the Student Body and the VFW’s choice to represent Bryan at Boys State in 1947. It was the custom for the young men from all the towns in each state to elect a Governor at the Boys State Convention. Chaddy won that election and was allowed to sit in the chair at the desk of the actual Governor of Texas, Beauford H. Jester, for one day. Then he and the young men who had been elected in their States were given a trip to Washington D.C. to meet President Harry Truman. With the exception of the one summer that he rode a bus to the State of Washington to work on the logging trails of the Great North Woods, his summers from the age of 10 to adulthood were spent at Camp Stewart for Boys in Hunt, Texas. His Dad, Teacher, Coach, Principal, the legendary “Mr. Lip”, was a staff member there for 31 Summers. A football Scholarship to Baylor University allowed him to follow in his dad’s footsteps as a Baylor Bear. He lived in Brooks Hall and was on the Brooks Council. It was in his Junior year at Baylor that troops were sent to Korea and Chaddy joined the U.S. Navy. His service was aboard the U.S.S. Hickox, a destroyer in a group of 8, known as the DesRon 20, sent to combat duty off Korea and later to make goodwill stops around the world. It was the largest fleet to circumnavigate the globe (home port to home port) since Teddy Roosevelt’s “Great White Squadron” of 1908. The Hickox earned 3 service ribbons: The United Nations, Korean Theater (with 2 Battle Stars) and the China Theater. On a leave before sailing, Chaddy returned to Waco to see his Grandmother and decided to visit the Baylor campus and his former Coach one more time. The wife of his Coach was a great friend of his mother Beulah and a professor at Baylor. She introduced him to one of her Freshmen students, Billye Raye Yount. The rest is history!

          At the end of his four years of service, Chaddy returned to Baylor to finish his senior year and married Billye Raye. They graduated together and headed for Southern Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Upon achieving his degree from Southern Theological Seminary, he served for a brief time as Youth Pastor at First Baptist Church in Bryan before moving to Fresno, California with his wife and young son, WM Travis Lipscomb III. It was there that he worked part time as a Chaplain at Juvenile Hall and began his studies for a Master’s in Social Work from the University of California at Fresno. A beautiful baby girl, Camille Yount Lipscomb was born. The family was complete. Soon after earning his degree, he served the Fresno Area Baptist Association as field director of juvenile rehabilitation for the then named Southern Baptist Home Mission Board. This assignment covered the Western United States, Alaska and Hawaii. In 1968, he moved to the Atlanta home office to direct the expanding family service role for juvenile rehabilitation, specializing in Baptist childcare and youth ministries. This department was also available to support churches and families in disaster and emergency situations.  It was during this period that Travis had the honor of meeting with President Lyndon Johnson at a Prayer Breakfast in the Rose Garden. The family has a picture and article from the front page of the Washington Post showing both of them at that event.

          Travis spent the last 22 years of his career serving in California as a Social Worker. He was with Marin County Family Social Services and the North Bay Regional Services of California. The Regional Centers were created by the then Governor Ronald Reagan to assist those children and adults with developmental disabilities by combining all needed services in one place. His specific assignment was to represent those who came to be involved in the courts and judicial systems. He worked in the Napa Center and was Supervisor of the Center in Santa Rosa, California when he retired.

          After retirement, Travis gathered up his family and returned to his Texas roots. He found great joy in reconnecting with boyhood friends and revisiting favorite places meaningful to his growing up years. Retirement also allowed time to enjoy some of his many interests and the substantial library collection of books on each subject. Ham Radio captivated him as a young man. Photography was a huge hobby, and he became very adept at confiscating space in a garage or laundry to use as a dark room. Some of his best work was created during the Cibachrome era, but any picture he could take from shooting film to processing the print was enjoyable. Horticulture was another special area and felt his finest hour was raising Japanese Maples from seed he had cultivated. He loved sailing and sail boats. Nothing pleased him more than sailing his 22 foot Hurley on San Francisco Bay in gale force winds. He flew all over the U.S. in his little Cessna 150 that was so small it was surely meant to do nothing more serious than fly over pastures. Fishing in rivers, lakes, streams, and the Pacific Ocean from Baja California to British Columbia was another great passion, especially fly fishing. Tying his own flies could bring him hours of joy. He liked to cook and never saw a cookbook or kitchen implement he did not want to collect.

          Travis was surrounded in Angelina County by most everyone in his Yount related family. He also came to be particularly fond of a new family of friends. He claimed his cousin “B Jim” (Dr. James Stegall) of Bryan as the brother he never had and George Leon Sisemore of Petaluma, California as the brother of his heart. He was so grateful to and appreciative of each one.

          A life well lived, Travis “Chaddy” Lipscomb loved his God, his Family, and his Country. He served them to the best of his ability. “Good night, sweet prince, And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.” – Shakespeare

          Mr. Lipscomb is survived by his cherished wife of 66 years, Billye Raye Yount Lipscomb of Lufkin; beloved children, William Travis Lipscomb III and wife Beverly Barndt of Huntington, and Camille Yount Lipscomb of Lufkin; treasured grandchildren, William Travis Lipscomb IV and wife Dr. Meredith Lee May of Longview; along with all the greatly loved members of the Yount sibling families: Cawley, Ellis, Lenamon, and Yount.

          He was preceded in death by his parents, William Travis Lipscomb, Jr. and Beulah (Beall) Lipscomb; father-in-law and mother-in-law, Rev. Hubert Ray Yount and Ruby (Smitherman) Yount; sister-in-law, Kathleen Yount Lenamon; nephew, Andrew Kyle Ellis; and brothers-in-law, John Yount, Don Cawley, and David Ellis.

          Shafer Funeral Home, Lufkin directors.

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