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His full name is Robert Dixon Tips. Everyone who knows him calls him "Dick," and he's a man who has literally grown up in the funeral business. He knows better than most that death care is a subject many people are reluctant to discuss. But visiting with this man, who operates the largest privately owned funeral home and cemetery company in the United States, it becomes apparent that his passion and commitment are not focused on the dead, but rather on the living.
"Mission Park has been my family's calling for over 100 years," says Tips, Chairman and CEO of Mission Park Funeral Chapels and Cemeteries. "My great-grandfather, grandmother and father taught me that when someone dies the person left behind struggles through the worst day of their life, trying to determine what their loved one would have wanted."
"Our goal is to help people through these critical times, and assist with the decisions
 that in many cases have been postponed to the end of life. That's why I place so much emphasis on planning your funeral in advance. No one intentionally wants to burden his or her loved ones with these decisions at the time of their own death. I always ask the same questions, 'Have you made your final plans? Will your family have the money to cover the expenses of your funeral?' Mission Park is here to help make sure the answer to both important questions is, 'yes.'
"It's my responsibility as well as all the caring people I work with to help families avoid the worst shopping day of their lives. One of the most thoughtful ways anyone can express their love for their family is to make his or her arrangements in advance. When your specific wishes are pre-planned, you and your family can avoid hasty decisions and financial pressures while they're grieving," Dick says.
"Having personally called on him in some of the most trying times of my life, Dick has always been there for me and my family," says Vicki Buffolino, a well-known TV anchor at CBS affiliate KENS-TV. "He has been in the business of helping others for many many years and it shows," she said. "He shows the ultimate respect and care for the people who are oftentimes suffering and looking for guidance."
Veteran TV sports anchor Greg Simmons of ABC affiliate KSAT-TV says he's been fortunate to witness and benefit from Dick's generosity. Mission Park handled the funeral services for Simmons' parents, who passed away in the 1990s. "Each time he
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assisted my family in getting through a very rough time in our lives," he recalled.
"Recently, a friend of mine went through a tragedy in her life. Her son was murdered. She had no insurance for him and was faced with mounting bills including funeral costs. One call to Dick and he was extremely understanding and worked with the family to not only get them through the process but to assist them financially."
"That's just the kind of person he is," Simmons said. "We are lucky to have Dick in our community."
While San Antonio's landmark family funeral company is more than a century old, Mission Park has grown most dramatically in the past quarter century thanks to Dick's emphasis on pre-planning and his vision fordevelopment, expansion and integration of added services into Mission Park.
It's interesting to note that Dick's greatgrandfather, Will Harry Chambers, an
architect and builder by trade, founded Mission Park in 1907. He presented the 200+ acres that now comprise the Mission Park South Cemetery to his wife as a wedding gift. The early success of Mission Park was a result of Will Chambers' unwavering commitment to live by the Golden Rule, not only in how he treated his employees, but also the families served by the first Mission Park Cemetery.
In the early '60's, Dick joined his grandmother, Margaret; father, Fred; and uncle, Will, working summers and weekends at the family-owned cemeteries. "I did it all" says Dick. He swept the roadways, emptied trash containers, mowed, watered, trimmed and learned how to dig a grave for burial. Dick's father and uncle, his mentors, always instilled in him the belief that we shape our own tomorrows by what we do today. And, with an eye toward the future, the Tips-owned cemetery properties offer a permanent, peaceful and pristine environment for families to come and visit their loved ones. Where you rest in death is just as important as where you lived in life from the standpoint of your future generations. Sensitivity to family dignity, understanding of family traditions and respect for the spiritual needs of individual families are the goals of Mission Park.
In the late 1950s, Mission Burial Park North was established on approximately 200 acres adjacent to The Dominion on
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