Officer Robert Henderson Shipp

I only knew him as Bobby Shipp. We were in Cub Scouts together. I remember "sleepovers" at his house and mine except they were not titled "sleepovers", just spending the night. I think we did those to get an early start on playing the next day. Bobby loved to go to the railroad track close to his house near Urban Park Elementary. He liked to leave pennies on the steel train tracks to crush them flat. Gosh, how he hated waiting for the next train. I guess neither one of us knew there were actually train schedules. Most of the time we couldn't find the penny afterwards. I suggested we use a quarter, it should be easier to find later. He was afraid it might derail the train but it really did not matter-we didn't have a quarter anyway. Bobby was the 1st person my age to die. Stupid me-I did not realize somebody our age could die.

Steve Kirk
childhood friend

February 19, 2021