LIFE & TIMES


Maryland Will Miss... Gretchen Verbonic of Hendersonville,


North Carolina died on November 15, 2022 at the age of 82. She was one of the early gradu- ates of the legendary riding and horsemanship program off ered at the Potomac Horse Center by its founder “Stretch” Harting, whose goal in founding the Center was “to foster the Olym- pic spirit.” Verbonic moved to North Carolina in 2000 after spending the majority of her life as a trainer in the Washington, D.C., area. She grew up in Michigan where she started riding show hunters and equitation as well as com- peted in eventing. She also showed in dressage at an early age. When she moved to the D.C. area, she took up foxhunting. Besides compet- ing, Verbonic trained horses and riders and was a nationally licensed dressage judge for over 35 years. In 2017, Verbonic was named to the Sec- ond Wind Hall of Fame, which honors those “In recognition of a useful and productive life, continuing beyond retirement, while others paused to rest, this dedicated person caught a ‘second wind’ and began a new career of service to the community and to mankind.”


Dr. David Zipf died in late


November 2022. He was a veterinarian in Maryland for more than 50 years. He was the chief veterinarian for the Maryland Racing Commis- sion for decades, starting in 1965 at the Marlboro Races. After retiring from MRC, Zipf was presented with the 2016 Joe Kelly Unsung Hero Award for his honesty, hard work and humility.


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bought other nearby farms and leased land for Lippy Brothers Inc, which was founded in 1965. T eir youngest brother Donald joined the business as an equal partner at that time. Today, Lippy Brothers Farms, a statutory trust, has grown into an agribusiness with more than two dozen employees working on about 10,000 acres in Maryland and Pennsylvania. In addition, they also operated Sunnyside Farms, an egg production facility in Westminster. In 1994, the brothers expanded into Puerto Rico where they leased 800 acres of land in an eff ort to grow crops alternative to sugarcane. Lippy and his wife Marjorie Ann Klepper bought a home at Palmas del Mar and lived there for a decade. After experimenting with a number of crops, they settled on producing fi eld corn and sorghum for local livestock. In addition to farming, Lippy was direc-


tor of Hanover Foods Corp. from 1994 to 2021 and director and chair of the Baltimore Farm Credit Bank, now called Agfi rst Farm Credit Bank. He also served as a director of the Farm Credit Council from 1993 to 1997. He also was a chair of the Famers and Merchants Bank in Fowbles- burg for four years and one of its directors for 54 years. Lippy also served on the board of the Maryland Agricultural Resource Council from 2008 to 2014.


Standardbred trainer and owner


more about Dr. Zipf ’s in- volvement with Maryland racing at: https:// equiery.com/the-people-behind-preakness/


Dr. David Zipf T. Edward “Ed” Lippy of Carroll County


died on December 3, 2022 at the age of 93. Lippy was born on the family’s dairy farm in Hampstead and graduated from Hampstead High School before earning a Bachelor’s De- gree from the University of Maryland, Col- lege Park. In 1996, he earned the outstanding alumnus meritorious service award from the University of Maryland College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. He spent his life on the family farm, which also grew and sold hay, corn, soybeans, wheat, barley, and green beans. Lippy started the business with his two broth- ers Joe and Wilson in 1955. Together they


www.equiery.com | 800-244-9580


Arthur “Arty” Lee Foster of Cor- dova died on December 31 at the age of 93. Foster graduated from Easton High School in 1946. He had a lifelong passion for animals and joined the Standardbred horse


racing industry in the late 1970s. He spent over 40 years training and racing trotters and pacers in Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylva- nia and New York. Foster worked for Elliott Wilson Trucking as


a truck driver and also at a processing plant in Cordova while working his own farms. With the help of his wife Ann, they worked side by side at the farm milking cows, raising livestock and growing grain crops as well as raising a family.


Martha Ann Cerra Green Submitted by Missy Green T e life of Martha Ann Cerra Green, 83 years


young, of New Windsor, was permanently al- tered on January 26, 2020 when she survived catastrophic life threatening injuries after be-


BRIDAL PATHS


of Marylanders


Former Marylander Dr. Alex Curtiss married Dr. Jason Ginn on October 1, 2022 in Charleston, South Carolina. Dr. Curtiss grew up in Sunshine, Maryland, and was a member of Howard County-Iron Bridge Hounds, Goshen Hunt, and Howard County Pony Club. T e couple now live in New Jersey where Dr. Curtiss is an equine surgeon at Hogan Equine and Dr. Ginn is an equine veterinarian with Colts Neck Equine Practice.


ing hit by a car. She lived with major injuries for 1,072 days before her soul left the earth on January 2, 2023. Born on June 3, 1939 in New York City, Mar- tha was the daughter of Annette Guzzi Cerra and Jack Cerra. With her mother and father working on the Grace Line ships, Martha spent her formative years at T e Academy of St. Jo- seph, Brentwood, New York. T e Academy of St. Joseph is where she acquired her life-long passion for horses. With classmates like Caro- lyn Arcaro – daughter of jockey Eddie Arcaro – and Patrice Jacobs whose father was [renowned TB trainer and owner] Hirsch Jacobs, she was surrounded by horse racing royalty. As a junior rider, she went on to show horses all over Long Island, New York, including competing in the open jumper classes and equitation at the leg- endary Madison Square Garden. After her schooling, much to her mother’s


dismay, she turned down a veterinary medicine scholarship to Cornell University to pursue a career in the horse business in Albany, New York. At fi rst, she taught riding lessons and galloped race horses. In the 1960s, Martha set


THE EQUIERY YOUR MARYLAND HORSE COUNCIL PUBLICATION | FEBRUARY 2023 | 53 continued ...


Maryland Jockey Club photo


Gayle Curtiss


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