Martin Schipper

Martin Paul O’Brien Schipper Real estate agent, historian and farmer

Martin Paul O’Brien Schipper, 64, who was vice president of American National Properties, Inc. where he focused on special use and historic commercial real estate and was among the first hemp farmers in Maryland following the 2018 passage of Maryland HB 698, died Dec. 31 at his home, Heritage Hills, in Urbana. He had cancer.

Mr. Schipper was born at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, DC, on Oct. 15, 1955. He lived with his parents, older brother and two older sisters in Bethesda and then Rockville, Maryland, until 1960 when the family moved to the 400-acre farm Heritage Hills in Urbana. He grew up exploring the woods and country roads while helping his parents to raise cattle and Appaloosa horses.

He spent his freshman year at Montana State before taking a year off to work as a gandy dancer for the railroad. After returning to college and earning a creative writing degree from Goddard College in Vermont, he managed the family farm for many years. During this time, he also worked with his father, Dr. Gerald Jan Schipper, on real estate and property development interests.

His love of local history inspired him to pursue a master’s in history at the University of Maryland-College Park. His 1985 thesis, entitled “The Sources of Change in Farming in Frederick County, Maryland 1790-1840,” can be found through the City of Frederick website.

For nearly two decades, he worked as a historian at University Publications of America, originally based in Frederick and later an imprint of Congressional Information Services and LexisNexis Academic & Library Services in Bethesda, Maryland. He traveled around the country, curating primary source documents held at academic institutions to make them available to a wider audience on microfilm. During this time, he also earned an MBA from Frostburg State University.

In 2002, he joined Washington DC Retail Brokers, Inc. and worked with broker Paul Raab to sell and lease commercial properties in the greater DC area. Following a move back to the family farm with his young family in 2005, after the death of his father, he joined Turning Point Real Estate in Ijamsville and worked with broker Charlie Seymour. Then in 2008, he joined American National Properties, Inc. and worked with friend and partner Dawn Gordon until his passing on Dec. 31, 2019.

In spring 2019, he partnered with Rights of Man Farm in Ijamsville to grow CBD hemp as part of the Maryland Industrial Hemp Research Pilot Program. The Heritage Hills/Rights of Man hemp research crop was grown under the auspices of Frostburg State University. When Mr. Schipper suddenly became ill, Rights of Man Farm and the Southern Frederick County Rotary Club, along with countless friends and beloved family members, made sure that the harvest and processing of four acres of CBD hemp was completed.

Mr. Schipper was a member of the Southern Frederick County Rotary Club and a Mason.

Survivors include his wife, Pamela Joyce O’Brien Schipper, whom he married in 1997; two children, Hannah Joy O’Brien Schipper and Guinevere Rose O’Brien Schipper; his brother, Dr. Gerrit J. Schipper; his sister Suzanne T. Schipper of Vermont; his sister Anita B. Schipper Caplan; his sister-in-law, Kim Capone CRNP; his stepmother, Ruth Schipper of Washington; his nieces and nephews Jan Schipper married to Beth Polidoro, Thomas Luke Simmons married to Tina Binz, Derek Charles Caplan married to Anna Weyandt, Roxanne Turner Caplan partnered with Frank Wilke, Taylor O’Sullivan Quinn partnered with James Verge, Samuel Kees Schipper partnered with Stephanie Raygoza, Lily JoBep Caplan Martin married to Josh Martin, Shane Joseph Schipper, Alex Capone and Morgan Capone; his great-nieces and nephews Tyler, Charlie and Penny Wilke, Josie and Brooks Martin, Chloé Quinn Verge, Jordan and Alayna Verge; his aunt Ellen Schipper Bakker of Holland; his cousins Helge Schott, Merel Schott van Wyck, Elsbeth Bakker, Annebel Broekhuizen, Jocco, Sam and Tobias Post of Holland, Iris and Noah Monnereau of Barbados, Kathy Taylor of Canada and Deena Taylor Houg of Texas; his in-laws Gerald and Kathleen O’Brien and Carrie, Craig and Jane Kelley of Virginia, Chris O’Brien of New York, and Peter, Mia, Aidan and Will O’Brien of North Carolina, Tim, Lauren and Sadie O’Brien and Dan O’Brien, Jessica St. Clair and Isobel O’Brien of California.

He is preceded in death by his father, Dr. Gerald Jan Schipper, and his mother, Dr. Martha Jane Taylor Schipper, as well as aunts Bep and Alida Schipper of Holland, cousin Iris Bakker Post of Holland, and Uncle Sam Taylor and Aunt Lynn Taylor of Canada.

A Tuesday, Jan. 7, 10 a.m. welcome and 10:30 a.m. service with the Reverend Jonathan Davis at Zion Church, 8998 Urbana Church Road is planned. A reception follows at the Fingerboard Country Inn in Ijamsville.