Ronald "Ron" Wayne Shipp Jr.

Ronald "Ron" Wayne Shipp, Jr., 67, of Peoria, unexpectedly passed away on Sunday August 27, 2023, at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria. He was born on October 24, 1955, a son of Ronald “Bud” Wayne Shipp and Mary Anna (Venzon) (Shipp) Stewart. He married Kimberly M. Koeppel on October 21, 1978, in Kickapoo.

Ron grew up in his hometown of Peoria and after graduating from Manual High School in 1973 he decided to serve his country and joined the United States Army. When he returned home in November of 1976, he began to pursue his lifelong career in law enforcement. It began at Bradley University. That was followed by a run with the Peoria Heights P.D. Ron then joined the Peoria Police Department on April 5th of 1978.

Throughout his career with the Peoria Police Department Ron served in several units including: Patrol Division, VICE unit, the Gang Unit, Neighborhood Services Unit, the DARE Program, and Special Investigations Division - Street Crimes Unit. Officer Shipp rose up through the ranks and on March 20th, 2003, he was promoted to Captain. He retired as Captain of the Uniformed Services Division on October 25, 2005, after 27 years of service. Over the years, Officer Shipp received several letters of commendation and letters of appreciation from citizens and businesses and was the recipient of the 1983 American Legion Service Award.

Ron was a wonderful provider for his family. In the early years while working full-time at the police department he would work overtime shifts and security jobs. Despite that, he still made sure his sons made it to their 5 am hockey practices, delivered their morning papers before school, made it to sporting practices and events, and had great yearly vacations to Florida to spend time with family and frequented Disney World. Even with all of that he managed to proudly obtain a Bachelor’s of Arts in Management in 1989 and a Master’s of Science in Criminal Justice from ISU in 1996.

After “retirement” and some boredom, Ron served for a while as Chief of Police in Taylorville. He moved on and spent a year on a contracted job with several other U.S. ex-military men in Equatorial Guinea training officers for their police department. He worked for a while at Davison-Fulton Woodland Chapel in Family Services. He then was a BLS instructor for the American Red Cross until the Covid era began. His last job was with Bass Pro Shops in East Peoria which he worked until his passing. Ron loved being around and talking with people and that’s why total retirement just wasn’t for him.

Ron and Kim were approaching their 45th year of marriage. Ron loved traveling with Kim and over the years, they had several wonderful vacations stateside. For their 25th wedding anniversary he surprised Kim with an amazing trip to England that will forever hold dear memories. Ron and Kim were working on planning their big life trip to Ireland and Italy, but unfortunately that dream was not realized.

Ron is survived by his wife, Kim (Koeppel) Shipp of Peoria; along with his three sons, Ronald W. "Ronnie" (Layla Swisher) Shipp, III of Tallahassee, Florida, Ryan M. Shipp of Denver, Colorado, and Jared C. (Julie) Shipp of Springfield; and beloved granddaughter, Ava Dawn Shipp of Springfield; two sisters, Diane (Greg) Hill of Cape Coral, Florida and Pam (Ken) Moyer of Fort Myers, Florida; one brother, Donald "Guy" (Rose) Shipp of Peoria Heights; his two uncles, John (Linda) Shipp of Bradenton, Florida and David (Sue) Johnson of Peoria Heights; and several nieces and nephews. He is also leaving behind his devoted Jack Russell, Tucker and chihuahuas, Darby and Cricket.

Ron was preceded in death by his parents; his sister, Debbie Shipp Crusen in 2013; beloved granddaughter, Evie Mae Shipp in April of 2023; and his first Jack Russell love, Jaxon.

Ron was a member of St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church and the Gen. Wayne A. Downing American Legion Post #1111 in Peoria Heights. He was an avid St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Bears, and University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish fan.

Ron's visitation will be from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm on Saturday, September 2, 2023, at the Davison-Fulton Woodland Chapel in Peoria. His funeral service will immediately follow at 4:00 pm in the chapel with Monsignor Jason Gray officiating. His committal service will be at 10:00 am on Tuesday, September 5, 2023 at Resurrection Mausoleum Chapel in Peoria with full military honors.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Tunnels to Towers Foundation at https://t2t.org or Folds of Honor Foundation at www.foldsofhonor.org.

Online condolences may be shared with Ron's family at www.Davison-Fulton.com.