BEECHER CITY — Rev. Brett Sapp said funerals are typically somber occasions but the one on Tuesday for his uncle, U.S. Navy Machinist s Mate 1st Class Keith Tipsword, was also
Navy veteran Petty Officer 1st Class Keith Tipsword was 27 when he was killed while serving on the battleship USS West Virginia during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Tipsword’s remains had been buried as an unknown in Hawaii, but they were identified by DNA testing.
U.S. Navy Machinist’s Mate 1st Class Keith Tipsword of Illinois will be laid to rest over 80 years after his death. Tipsword died in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Community members are invited to line the route that will take body of Keith Tipsword from the funeral home in Effingham to his final resting place at Mocassin Cemetery in