By Kathy Onorato
Tony Trippi’s carpentry students use their skills to install windows in a modular home purchased by his girlfriend, Trisha Bursey. Trippi died unexpectedly in April, and community members plan to complete the home for Bursey. (Photo courtesy Trisha Bursey) |
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Tony Trippi (Photo courtesy of Trish Bursey) |
With the sudden death of Tony Trippi, the carpentry teacher at the Bath Regional Career and Technical Center, a community has come together to help complete a project he and his students began prior to his death.
In June 2013, Trippi’s girlfriend, Wiscasset Middle School teacher Trish Bursey, purchased a modular being constructed by Trippi and his students at the Bath Regional Career and Technical Center. With Trippi’s sudden death, the work on the modular was put on hold as students were left without an instructor.
For 19 years, Trippi taught carpentry to students from Lincoln Academy, Boothbay, Wiscasset, and Bath. In April, at the age of 44, he died unexpectedly from a heart attack.
Part of Trippi’s second-year carpentry program included a partnership with the Bath Rotary Club, in which students built a modular home, which was eventually sold. Under Trippi’s direction, students learned wall construction, cabinet installation, drywall application, stair layout, door and window installation, and interior finish work.
“Tony took great pride in projects he started,” Bursey said.
The people and businesses who have stepped up to complete the house in his memory have been incredible, Bursey said.
Matt Stelzer, of Hammond Lumber, Chet Grover and Carl Amirault, of Wiscasset, and Dirigo Custom Structures, of Bath, have all donated material and labor to complete her home.
Grover, now the owner of Grover Construction Inc., said the carpentry program at the Bath Regional Career and Technical Center is very close to him. He and his sons Nick and Devin have all gone through the program. Next year, Grover’s youngest son Brycson will attend.
Grover said his motivation to help finish the project started by Trippi is knowing and understanding the dedication his good friend had for the program.
“I see the value in the program. We can’t let it slip,” Grover said.
The house will be moved and set in Topsham by Dirigo Custom Structures sometime within the next week. From there, many volunteers, including students, will work to complete the house, Bursey said.
Grover said his crew, which includes Ethan Garceau and Sam Schmal, former Wiscasset High School students who also attended Bath Regional Career and Technical Center and had Trippi as a teacher, are planning to install flooring, cabinets, and doors.
“I am overwhelmed by the generosity. Tony touched so many lives, the community is stepping up to see this project through,” Bursey said.
On behalf of Trippi’s family, Bursey presented the first Tony Trippi Scholarship/Toolship in May at the Bath Regional Career and Technical Center’s award presentation and shared letters students sent to her following his death.
The letters described Trippi as an effective teacher who really cared about his students, referring to him as a friend.
“The first time I met Mr. Trippi, I went over to the job site. He asked me if I was going to come and I said, ‘Well, that depends. Do you take people of my kind?’ Mr. Trippi looked at me funny and said ‘Your kind, what do you mean your kind?’ I told him I’m not good with math, but that I can build things with my hands. Mr. Trippi said, “It takes your brain to run your hands. You come back and see me next year,” wrote Jake Williams, the first recipient of the Tony Trippi Scholarship.
Each year the Bath Regional Career and Technical Center will present a scholarship in Trippi’s honor.
“Tony was an incredible teacher and has impacted the community greatly,” Bursey said.
Bursey said she and her two sons, Evan, 11, and Alex, 14, are hoping to move into the new home sometime in July.
“My boys and I will live in the house Tony built for us,” Bursey said.
