Tippy Ferrara was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. He was a flight engineer and gunner on B-24 bombers of the 392nd Bomb Group, 8th Air Force, based in England. On June 20, 1944, their mission was to bomb the oil refineries in Politz, Germany. The bomber was hit by flak and Tippy was injured in the foot. They were unable to maintain altitude sufficiently to return to England so they headed for neutral Sweden where they were interned for thirteen months. After the war in Europe ended, Tippy flew as copilot on five ferry flights to return B-24s from Sweden to England.
Tippy was one of the early flight engineers hired by Seaboard. During the wet lease with the Belgian airline Sabena in 1958, he met and married Lina Holman, a Sabena flight attendant. He finished his flying career with FedEx.
Tippy is survived by his wife, Lina; his three daughters, Michele Ferrara, Daniele Jarman, and Noelle Novack; his grandchildren Kaitlyn and Jackie Seikunas, Samantha and Amanda Novack, and Chloe Jarman; and several nieces and nephews. He is seen here with Lina at the 2000 Seaboard reunion in Cocoa Beach, Fla.