Dr. Wayne R. Schlipp, exploration geologist and MATC instructor, passed away due to complications with lung cancer on Tuesday, April 7. Known affectionately as the “Rock Doc,” Schlipp will be remembered by his students as a passionate, dedicated instructor with little time for their nonsense or poor work ethic.
“He really cared,” said his son, Scott Schlipp, also an MATC instructor. “When students would leave stuff blank on a take-home quiz, it ticked him off because he cared. He wanted students to understand.”
Schlipp had a unique and clever way of turning a phrase and was a very entertaining teacher. He once told this writer, who was making up a childish-sounding song about plate tectonics, “Monte, you’re a delightful guy. But I haven’t been in kindergarten in over 60 years and I prefer it that way.”
Associate of Arts student Staci Pawledge took two classes taught by Dr. Schlipp. Pawledge recalled a recent world news event that demonstrated Schlipp’s trademark humor.
“It was when everyone was freaking out about Ebola and he was talking about this doctor in Texas and referred to him as a ‘dumb, cowboy jerk off.’”
Schlipp’s sense of humor is what led him to teaching after working for oil companies and while pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
“He was a really good joke teller,” Scott Schlipp explained. “His professor realized that if you could tell jokes or tell stories that you could teach. He started teaching there to pay his rent, basically.”
Schlipp was a man of varied interests and many talents.
“He was a leather worker,” Scott Schlipp shared. “He was a wood worker. He was a musician; he played guitar. He was a great oil painter. And he was a great athlete. Very good basketball player.”
Schlipp’s pursuit of those interests mirrored the effort he put into ensuring MATC students a quality education about the Earth.
“Everything he did,” Scott Schlipp said, “he didn’t do it half-assed. It was all out.”
Over 300 people attended a memorial party to celebrate Schlipp’s life at Kochanski’s Concertina Beer Hall in Milwaukee on Saturday, April 11. A polka band performed in the afternoon and the Liam Ford Band performed later in the evening.
A memorial scholarship fund has been set up by his family and will be available next year for non-health and non-culinary students taking at least six credits with a 2.5 grade point average. Dr. George Stone, MATC instructor and Schlipp’s longtime office mate, has contributed $1,000. The fund is halfway to its goal of raising $10,000, which will grant it perpetual endowment status.
The void left by Schlipp’s passing will not be easy for MATC to overcome because of his wisdom and devotedness to his work.
“He was passionate about rocks, believe it or not,” Scott Schlipp said. “And he was passionate about his students.”