Mary E. Tippett, 83, Thoroughbred Breeder
Mary Elizabeth Tippett, an owner and breeder of such racing thoroughbreds as Mr. Gus, Tumbleweed, Pretense and Racing Room, died late Saturday after a long illness at Llangollen Farm, her 4,000-acre estate at Upperville, Va. She was 83 years old.
Horses racing under her colors have won the Woodward, the English Grand National, the Santa Anita Handicap and many other major races. At one time she owned the second largest stable of thoroughbreds in North America.
She was born Mary Elizabeth Altemus in Wynnewood, Pa., where she attended school. When she was 15, her uncle, Samual D. Riddle, an internationally known turfman, presented her with her first horse.
She was most active in racing in the 1930's, during her marriage to John Hay Whitney. It ended in divorce in 1940. She was later married to Dr. E. Cooper Person, who died in the mid-1940's, and to Richard Dwight Lunn, from whom she was divorced.
Mrs. Tippett set a trend among thoroughbred owners when she had her helicopter and Rolls-Royce painted with her racing silks: dark purple and fuchsia. The helicopter was invariably piloted by her fourth husband, Col. Cloyce Joseph Tippett, of the Air Force. Colonel Tippett, who formerly headed the Lima, Peru, office of the International Civil Aviation Organization, is her only immediate survivor. A private service is to be held at Upperville Cemetery in Upperville, Va., today at 11 A.M.
