Guiseppe Lorenzo (Flip)Filippelli passed away peacefully on August 1, 2012 in Vancouver at the age of 89.
Flip grew up in the Gultch. As a youth, Flip delivered the paper, worked at the movie theatre, and served as an altar boy. He graduated from the University of Alberta in 1946.
While in Trail, he volunteered with the Red Cross, Little League, and cub scouts. He attended the 1956 Melbourne Olympics in his year as Jaycees National President.
Flip moved to Montreal with his wife Lillian and children in 1961 then to Vancouver in 1970.
Flip became president of his children’s swim clubs in Pointe Claire, Quebec, and Vancouver. He officiated at swim meets and trained officials. He was an administrator at provincial, national and international levels, serving on the FINA Technical Committee for several years. He officiated at the Summer Olympics from Los Angeles, 1984, to Sydney, 2000. He has a spot in the BC Sports Hall of Fame at BC Place in Vancouver.
Flip retired from Cominco in 1986 after forty-two years of service in the Trail, Montreal and Vancouver offices.
In his later years, he enjoyed collecting and collating metre stamps in the company of his partner June.
Flip loved keeping in touch with his high school classmates. They started organizing reunions in 1981.
Otherwise known as Lawrence Joseph, Flip has his name inscribed on the Home of Champions Monument in Trail: (L.J. (Flip) Filippelli). He was astute, loving and humorous right up to his death.
A funeral service was held at St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Vancouver on August 13th.
Donations can be made to the Canadian Cancer Society.