D. Elaine Sipe, who had a 38-year career teaching at several colleges and universities, died on May 29. She was 72 years old and had suffered from pancreatic cancer.
A native of North Carolina, Professor Sipe received a bachelor’s degree in education from Concordia College in River Forest, Illinois. After college, she joined the Peace Corps and served in Malaysia. Returning to the United States, she taught school while earning her master’s degree in geography at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. Later, she did doctoral work at Pennsylvania State University but received her doctoral degree from North Carolina State University.
From 1970 to 1987, Professor Sipe taught at Sacred Heart College in Belmont, North Carolina. When the college closed, Dr. Sipe joined the faculty Belmont Abbey College. From 1990 to 2004, Professor Sipe was on the faculty at her alma mater that was by then Concordia University. There she served as dean of the University College. She spent the last three years of her academic career at Belmont Abbey College before retiring in 2007.