By Karen Andrew
The Cincinnati Enquirer

SYMMES TOWNSHIP - David N. Tipton, a major real estate developer in Greater Cincinnati, died May 20 at University Hospital. He was 63.He entered the business world right out of high school and moved up to leadership positions within a short time. By his mid-40s, he and his good friend, Bill Woodward, had completed $80 million in projects in Southwest Ohio with their Kenwood firm, Tipton Associates, Inc.

"He taught me two things,'' said his son, Joseph of Blue Ash. "In order to succeed you have to take the problems no one else will take and to think outside the box. Dad figured out how to do the projects no one else could do and how to accomplish the job.''

Mr. Tipton was born in 1939 in Springfield, Ohio,to French Garnett and Gertrude Ethel Hull Tipton. He graduated from Northwestern High School in Springfield.

Mr. Tipton began his career as a teller at First National Bank in Springfield in 1958, before joining the Kissel Company in 1962 as a mortgage broker. He was later recruited by Ralph Sharp to develop apartment complexes in Dayton, Ohio.

In 1974, he returned to the banking business with the Galbraith Company/Chemical Bankin Cincinnati, where he eventually headed all construction lending. He then was hired as a partner to head up the Ohio operations of Indianapolis-based Phillip R. Duke Associates (now Duke Realty Corp.) in Blue Ash in 1977.

While at Duke, Mr. Tipton was instrumental in establishing three of the five largest office parks in Greater Cincinnati:

• 525 Vine Tower, downtown.

• Park 50, an office/research development in Miami Township, Clermont County.

• Governor's Hill, Interstate 71 and Fields Ertel Roads, Symmes Township.

In 1983, he and Woodward founded Tipton Associates, Inc.

Their projects include the NorthCreek Office Park in Kenwood, the Deaconess Medical building, Centennial Plaza, downtown, and Signal Hill office campus in Dayton.

They also developed Wards Corner Business Center, which is the home of International Paper's Packaging Research Center, the XPEDEX world headquarters and regional headquarters for Indiana Insurance.

Tipton retail projects include the Eastgate Square Shopping Center (Wal-Mart anchored), County Square Shopping Center (Kroger anchored), Turfway Retail Center (Wal-Mart/Sam's Club anchored) and the Kenwood Galleria.

Tipton also co-developed the Adams Landing residential development on the riverfront, downtown.

Tipton Associates recently developed Pictoria Corporate Center in Springdale, adjacent to the Showcase Cinemas and Twin Towers' Twin Lakes retirement community.

He was past president of the Clermont County Chamber of Commerce and was honored as the Clermont County Pacesetter in 1985 in recognition of his contributions to the community.

On Thursday he will be awarded posthumously the Distinguished Real Estate Professional award by the University of Cincinnati Real Estate Roundtable for his lifetime professional achievement.

He was an active member of the Armstrong Chapel United Methodist Church in Indian Hill, serving in various leadership roles, most recently as trustee.

In 1996, he married Terry S. Shank of Wyoming.

His daughter, Jill Tucker of Loveland, said running was one of his passions. He ran in a number of 10K events and enjoyed traveling with his family to Europe, Hawaii, Alaska, the Caribbean and the western United States.

Joseph Tipton said his father also had a large photo collection.

"He always had a camera with him. He wanted us to remember him not through pictures of himself, but through the pictures he took," his son said.

Mr. Tipton was preceded in death by a brother, Jerry, in 1994.

In addition to his son, daughter and wife, survivors include a brother, Dick of Centerville, Ohio; a sister, Janice Brubaker of Springfield; another daughter, Gibson Purdom of Mount Lookout; two other sons, Steven of Dayton and John Purdom III, a student at Indiana University; and seven grandchildren.

Services have been held.

Memorials: University of Cincinnati Cancer Programs, Barrett Cancer Center, M.L. 0544, P.O. Box 193713, Cincinnati 45219-9902 for Dr. Abul Jazieh's research.

E-mail kandrew@enquirer.com