About Our School

  • The school is named after John A. Sippel. The following is a short biography of his life.

     
     
     
     
     
       John A. Sippel
        1915-1987


     

    John A. Sippel was born and raised in New Braunfels, Texas. He moved to the Schertz-Cibolo area in the mid-1940s to serve as the superintendent of the school district.  It is also here at Schertz-Cibolo where John would meet, court, and later marry widowed English teacher Grace Pfeil Borgfeld.
    Sippel was also active in the local business community. In 1947, he bought an interest in the Cibolo Lumber Company as a partner. In 1948, he, along with Ewald Pfeil and Hoover Edwards, started the Cibolo Plumbing and Construction Company, a company that built houses in the local area.  In 1954, he opened the Four Winds Restaurant, and in 1959, a Western Auto, both on Pat Booker Road. Sippel would eventually open another Western Auto in Schertz in 1967. Finally, in 1972, he changed the names of the Western Autos to the names these businesses hold to this day, Sippel True Value Hardware.
    Aside from his work in the district and the business community, he held positions in local civic organizations and local politics. Sippel was active in the Schertz Business Club and Randolph Metrocom Chamber of Commerce. He was a Charter Member of the Converse-Cibolo Lion’s Club and would serve as the Charter President in 1949.  He also served as President of the Universal City Chamber of Commerce. In the early 1970s, then Mayor Fritz Schlather appointed John as the first Municipal Court Judge of Cibolo.  He would later serve as Mayor of Cibolo.
    His three sons and six grandchildren who have graduated from SCUCISD are reminders of John’s genuine love and hope for this school district and the local community.


     

    Source: Recommendation to SCUCISD Facility Naming Committee, Written by Lewis Borgfeld, David E. Sippel, and John P. Sippel on April 9, 2007