Marshall Flippo

Born September 2, 1927, Tuscola, Texas Passed away November 4, 2018, Osage Beach, Missouri Flip attended school in Wylie Texas, where he was class president and played football and baseball. After school, he joined the Navy during World War II where he served on the USS Piedmont, USS Lander and USS Dixie and played baseball for the them after the war was over. After serving, he returned to Abilene in 1949 and married Neeca Lee Redus. They started taking square dance lessons in 1951 and he started calling dances in 1952. After vacationing at Kirkwood Lodge in 1959, he was hired in 1962 as entertainment director leading to a 40-year history at the lodge including being a part owner. In 1963 he and Neeca gave birth to their only son John. Flip would work 6 months at the lodge when it was open and spend the other 6 months touring the world calling square dances in the US, Japan and Germany. He recorded for Blue Star (3) and Chaparral Records as well as guest recordings for several other companies. He sold over a million square dance records, receiving gold records for “The Auctioneer” and “Every Street’s A Boulevard”. He has received just about every award there is in square dancing including the prestigious Milestone Award and a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016. Flip was also a founding member of Callerlab, the governing body of square dancing. In 2000, Flip moved to Tucson, Arizona to be the resident caller at the Rincon West RV Park where he stayed until 2018. Then he moved back to Osage Beach to live with his son and his wife, John and Shelly.