John Lipiros
John Lipiros, a dedicated family man, lifelong rower, and ardent shore devotee, was sent to his eternal home on January 20, 2025, at the age of 42. He is now in heaven with his beloved mother, Ann, and watching over his wife Maria, son Luke (7), daughter Bella (3), father Thomas, sister Ann, cousins Chris Stefanidis, John Stefanidis, and Irene Gregov, uncle Bernard Koltisko, and cousins Jeff Koltisko, Candace Koltisko, and Gabby Cray.
The loves of John’s life were his family, competitive rowing, and spending as much time as possible each summer with the sand beneath his feet at the Jersey shore.
John was born in Atlantic County, NJ, on March 23, 1982, and attended Atlantic City High School with his sister, Ann. John’s love affair with competitive rowing and fitness began in his teenage years. John and his family were forever impacted by the passing of John’s mother, Ann, in 2000. Just two months later, John left home to study at Cornell University, where he continued rowing competitively for four years. He graduated with a degree in Applied Economics and Management from Cornell and went on to obtain an MBA from Villanova University shortly after.
John met his wife Maria in Philadelphia in July 2005 when he was 23 and she was 22. They were inseparable from the first day they met and spent nearly every day of July together. A month after they met, Maria got a job working in Manhattan, and within a few weeks, John got a job and moved to Manhattan as well. They moved back to Philadelphia together a year later and never left. Maria and John were married in May 2013, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.
The two best days of John’s life were when his son Luke was born in September 2017, and his daughter Bella was born in July 2021. His children were the loves of his life, and he did everything for them. He pureed their baby food, cooked daily breakfast and dinner, and walked one or both of them to school every day. John was the person Luke called when he couldn’t figure out a step on his 700-piece Lego build. Bella spent every morning before school playing Zingo, Old Maid, or Go Fish with Daddy. Maria would often catch John picking up Bella’s favorite baby doll, moving its arms and legs, and speaking to Bella in his very best baby doll voice.
John’s favorite place in the whole world was the beach in Ventnor, NJ, where he spent all of his summer days as a child. Nothing brought him greater joy than sharing Ventnor with Maria, then Luke, then Bella. His passion for the beach became a passion for all of us. John would often be seen pulling an overloaded beach cart to the ocean while Maria and Ann held the kids’ hands. John would spend hours patiently pulling Luke through the waves on a boogie board with a string. Luke and Daddy would be smiling, jumping, and laughing in the waves for hours. Bella’s greatest passion outside of her baby dolls and her Daddy is chocolate ice cream. She would often be seen running to the ice cream cart on the beach, with John running closely behind. After a few hours on the beach, John would be at peace sipping a glass of wine and cutting a steak fresh off the grill, surrounded by his family.
Outside of his family, John’s other great love was rowing. He always felt most alive on the water, ideally with an oar in hand, his beloved teammates behind him, and some tough competitors alongside him. He started rowing competitively in high school and continued throughout his four years at Cornell. John was always so humble. Six months into dating, Maria finally realized how talented of a rower John was when one of his friends mentioned that he seriously considered training competitively for the Beijing Olympics immediately after college. John later rowed for both the Penn AC and University Barge clubs. UBC allowed him to compete internationally in the UK at the Henley Royal Regatta three times. These years were, without a doubt, some of John’s most cherished. He was a natural competitor, strategic, efficient, and powerful. His coxswain at Henley, Andy Kelly, spoke at John’s Celebration of Life. He shared, “This guy was a special rower. An absolute force in a boat. He was unbelievably explosive but was somehow also perfectly precise technically. You know John, he was built like a brick house, and sometimes those guys can be clunky in a skinny little shell. But his stroke was perfect. He was like one of those bulls, you know, in Pamplona, all muscled up. But it would be like if one of those bulls could also ice skate. His stroke was the same every single time. I mean, the guy was literally a metronome.”
His favorite rowing rival and one of his best friends, Neil McPeak, shared about John, “He didn’t just set the standard. He exceeded it. You never had to wonder if John would give 100%. That was a given. But there were moments when he went above and beyond. John rowed outside himself. You felt it. You saw it. And when it was time to push, you pushed with John, and you went for John. John loved us all, and he did so through his strength, stoic presence, and passion. There will never be another John Lipiros. We suffered a huge loss. But his strength will stay with us forever.”
John and Maria traveled with the kids as often as they could. Although John’s favorite destination was at home in his own comfortable and familiar bed, his family occasionally convinced him to travel to Disney World, Hershey Park, and the Ocean City, NJ, boardwalk. And although rides were not always his favorite, they were when he was with his children.
Maria is forever dedicated to keeping John’s memory and legacy alive for Luke and Bella. He was fiercely loved and will be passionately missed for the rest of all of our days.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you make a donation to a GoFundMe account so John’s family can establish a rowing scholarship to honor John’s legacy:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/in-
