Autumn Joanne (Older) Lipscomb

Autumn Joanne (Older) Lipscomb, 93 of Battle Creek passed away peacefully at her home, in her own bed, attended by her family on Sunday, July 19, 2026. She was Born on September 24, 1932, in Battle Creek, Michigan to Delbert Ford Older and Evelyn (Cowles) Older. Autumn attended Battle Creek Public schools and loved to read. She read whole series of books like Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. She kept up her reading until her eyes went bad later in life. She learned to play marbles while in school on the playground and she was quite good. Her team won the marbles championship tournament one year. She also loved games like batting a balloon around with anyone who would play with her. She loved to learn and recite rhymes and was quite proud that she could remember them her whole life. Autumn’s memory remained sharp. She loved eating Spanish rice with Aunt Gladys and Uncle Don, and she loved potato chips also Ice cream. Barbara was a very close childhood friend. Autumn and Barbara did everything together and they remained close all of Barbara’s life. Autumn was employed for some time with Weston’s Biscuit Company and with Post Gardens. Autumn married the love of her life, Charles William (Bill) Lipscomb on June 10, 1951, in Battle Creek. They were Married for 73 years until he passed away on November 28, 2023. Upon his passing Autumn exclaimed in anguish, “He has been my whole life!”

Autumn is survived by her children, Robert W. “Bill” (Carol/deceased) Lipscomb, Mark S. (Ellen) Lipscomb, Khrystyne L. (Richard) Lipscomb-Jacoby and Pamela K. “Pam” (Ken) Smith. Grandchildren; Brian (Mary) Jenkins of Union City, Michigan, Adam (Christy) Lipscomb of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Sarah (Bradley) Emerson of Grand Rapids, Anna (Terry) Brown of Kokomo, Indiana, David (Jaime/engaged) Heckman of Battle Creek, Michigan, Brad Heckman of Battle Creek, Michigan, Jessica Lynch of Grand Ledge, Michigan, BJ (Candy) Smith of Battle Creek, Zach (Missi) Smith of Battle Creek and 16 Great Grandchildren as well as many Nieces and Nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, her daughter-in-law and by her brother Donald Older of Battle Creek and by her grandnephew Brad Dean Older.

Autumn met Bill at the corner drug store and had their first date at Bailey Park watching fireworks, and, of course, Barbra was with them. In fact, Barbara was with them on most dates. Barbara would often end up riding in the front seat of the car while Autumn would sleep in the back seat on the way home from dates. Autumn and Bill loved to dance, laugh and have a good time at whatever they were doing. They dreamed of building a house and a life together with a family. Two years before they even married, they purchased land for the building of the family home. Bill had to plan strategically because money was tight, so he bought land for one dollar down and one dollar per week, sometimes he could only afford 50 cents. When they married, they decided to build their family and the family residence right away. “Let’s have our children while we are young, so that we can grow up with them.” While Bill and Autumn were busy working and having children, they built their house together with their own two hands learning as they built. They moved into that house on Mother’s Day 1955. Autumn and Bill built the house and Autumn built the home, and they ran that home together. Having small children in the home is extremely rewarding but also tiring. Sometimes they would put their children to bed and then make pizza for themselves and relax together. Perhaps if they had washed the pizza pans instead of leaving them in the sink their children would never have found out. As their family grew, they loved to explore the United States, so family vacations were planned to hit as many states as possible.

Autumn loved being mom, in fact, building a family was her greatest gift. She provided fun, compassion and showed her children and grandchildren how to enjoy the sweetness of life. She enjoyed the beach, family vacations, camping, shopping for clothes and stopping for McChicken, fries and black coffee, and getting her hair done downtown. She enjoyed coffee every morning with her close friend and neighbor, Bonnie. She enjoyed taking care of the children from the neighborhood through babysitting and forming great bonds of friendship with other moms. She loved most of all caring for her grandchildren and checking on the activities of her whole family. She had a checklist of questions to make sure that everyone had checked in or that she knew where her family was. She was involved with many aspects of her family’s life as she could and as each needed help. Some of her grandchildren lived with her from time to time and she would have to get them off to school or pick them up if they were “sick” they were not always sick. She loved to watch and laugh at, and with, her family. And some of her grandchildren would tease her while others entertained her. Her sweetness was able to bring out the best in her family, and her smile warmed the hearts of those who saw it. Autumn expressed faith in Jesus Christ and was Baptized on July 2, 2019, along with her eldest son and daughter-in-law. A private memorial celebration of life is being planned by the family for a later time.