Joe “Crazy Legs” Pipp of Riverhead died on Feb. 17, 2021, at Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead. He was 84 years old.
He was born on March 4, 1936, in Greenport to Zigmund Pipczynski and Monica Miezianka. He graduated from Riverhead High School in 1955 and was a three-sport athlete during his four years at the school. His accolades on the football field earned him the nickname “Crazy Legs”; he led the 1953 team to the Rutgers Trophy as the best high school football team in Suffolk County.
After high school he served in the U.S. Army, and upon discharge he became a member of the Riverhead police department. After his time in the department, he accepted a role with Grumman Aerospace Corporation, where he supported the E-2C Hawkeye aircraft as the lead radar technician.