Rip Van Winckel was born and raised in New England. He earned his A.S. in Engineering from Mitchell College, New London, Connecticut and his B.S. in Business Administration from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. Following school, he entered the U.S.M.C. and served as a pilot including assignments flying off of a carrier in the Caribbean for six months and tours in Vietnam and also in Japan as a test/acceptance pilot for aircraft coming out of overhaul. Following his military service, Rip worked at a chemical research lab in British Columbia planning and building small specialty chemical plants. Returning to the states he got his license as a Nursing Home Administrator, spending the last fifteen years as the Administrator and then Executive Director of a Christian Retirement and Nursing Home. He joined the Green Village Schools board in December of 2005 and served as the Executive Director until 2010. A room in his home became an office/printing shop where, for five years, he produced all of the brochures and newsletters for GVS.