(1919-1998)
American
Allen F. Sipprell (American, 1919-1998) noted Western New York photographer was born in Buffalo, NY on July 14, 1919 to the prominent Buffalo photographer Francis “Frank” J. Sipprell (1878-1958) and Lucy A. (née Allen, 1882-1958) Sipprell, and had a brother Paul J. Sipprell (1922-1964). Allen’s father opened the Sipprell Photography Studio in Buffalo in 1902, and specialized in portrait photography. Francis’s sister, the renowned photo-pictorialist Clara E. Sipprell (1885-1975) first worked as his assistant in the studio and later partnered with him in 1905. Allen grew up in Hamburg, NY, and was the graduate of Hamburg High School. After graduating, the family moved to East Aurora in 1938 where they continued to maintain the photography studio.
Allen served in the United States Navy during World War II, participating in campaigns in the Atlantic and Central America as a Petty Officer Second Class (Special Warfare Operator, SO2). After his military service, he attended a school in New York City for photography and soon joined his father in the photography business. After his father retired in 1948, the business was passed onto Allen who continued the family tradition at their studio in East Aurora. He maintained the studio for almost five decades until shortly before his passing on October 29, 1998 at the age of seventy-nine after a brief illness in the Hospice Ward of Buffalo General Hospital. Memorial services were held at St. Matthias Episcopal Church in East Aurora, NY on November 7, 1998 and he is buried in Lakeside Memorial Park Cemetery in Hamburg, NY.
(Written & compiled by Mark Strong of Meibohm Fine Arts, Inc., East Aurora, NY, meibohmfinearts.com, sources: Furnished upon request) https://www.meibohmfinearts.com/artists/details/1551