David Richard Sipes D.D.S.

David R. Sipes, D.D.S., M.F.S., 90, passed away peacefully on October 4th, 2025 surrounded by his children.

He was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania to parents Osra and Clifford Sipes. Dr. Sipes was raised in Alexandria, Virginia and went on to complete his undergraduate studies at Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia in 1956. Dr. Sipes received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology and received his D.D.S. from the Medical College of Virginia in 1960. He became a member of the American Society of Forensic Odontology in 1974. Dr. Sipes was a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and became a Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Odontology in 1978. He was the first Forensic Dentist in the United States to earn the degree of Master of Forensic Science, which he obtained from George Washington University in 1981.

Dr. Sipes was a private practitioner in Vienna, Virginia, from 1960 until his retirement in 1998. He served as a consultant in Forensic Dentistry to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of the Commonwealth of Virginia. He has lectured on Forensic Dentistry at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, the U.S. Air Force Investigators School, the Northern Virginia Criminal Justice Police Academy, and the D.C. Metropolitan Police Homicide Investigators School.

Dr. Sipes has served the ABFO as a member of the Planning Committee, Chairman of the Forensic Organization Subcommittee, member and Chairman of the Credentialing/Examination Committee, member and Chairman of the Ethics Committee, Board of Directors, Treasurer, Secretary, Vice-President, President-Elect, and President. In 2002, Dr. Sipes was awarded the Odontology Section’s Lester Luntz Award for his service to the field of Forensic Odontology.

He was a long-standing and active member of First Methodist Church in Morehead City, North Carolina. Dr. Sipes enjoyed fishing, fabricating lures and fishing poles, building wooden ship models, and scrimshawing.

He is survived by a large, loving family spanning five generations and many cherished friends he made along the way.

A celebration of Dr. Sipes’ life will be held on Sunday, November 23rd, at two o’clock in the afternoon at First Methodist Church, 900 Arendell Street, Morehead City, NC 28557.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that any memorial donations be directed to First Methodist Church or the Meals on Wheels program through Hope Mission.

Condolences and life tributes may be sent to the family at www.noebrooks.net.

Arrangements by Noe-Brooks Funeral Home, Morehead City, NC.