CORONADO, Calif. — The Coronado community is still mourning the loss of local legend Bob Kipperman, who was killed in a house fire last Friday. As crews continue to investigate a cause, friends and family shared more about the man, his mark on the area, and his final moments.
“He's just so well known," said Wayne Strickland, Kipperman's longtime friend. "He's missed, but he won't be forgotten.”
To know Coronado, was to know Bob Kipperman.
“Bob Kipperman. Everybody loved him," Strickland said.
Strickland saw it firsthand in his fifty years of friendship with Kipperman, or 'Kippy,' as many people called him.
“Kippy, he was jush such a fun guy," Strickland said.
Kipperman owned a well-known clothing store on Coronado, fittingly called Kippys.
It closed in 2015, but his career in fashion wasn't finished. Strickland said Kipperman also made and sold "blinged out" belts and purses in Barrio Logan.
“He was kind of an eclectic guy and, you know, he had his own style," Strickland said.
Kipperman lived in Coronado since he was nine years old. He was getting ready to celebrate his 84th birthday next month until tragedy struck last Friday afternoon.
His home on the 1400 block of 6th Street caught fire just before 1:30 p.m., taking Kipperman's life with it.
“Being a retired Coronado fireman, it's hard to see something like this happen and lose a life," said Strickland, who worked with the Coronado Fire Department for 32 years.
Kipperman's son, who wasn't ready to speak with ABC 10News on camera, said Kipperman was just eating lunch with his wife, Karina, when the fire broke out. He said Karina got out safely and rushed to her neighbors' house to call 911, but by then, it was too late. He said, within two minutes, the house was ablaze.
While Kipperman might not be with us anymore, Strickland said his spirit can live on in all of us.
“Be like Kippy," he said. "Tell fun jokes, and greet people with a smile and, you know, you'll make a lot of friends. That's what he was — a good friend.”
ABC 10News reached out to the Coronado Fire Department for an update on its investigation and a possible cause. We have yet to hear back.
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