COEUR d’ALENE — Charlie Nipp was a 16-year-old high school junior when he learned the real meaning of “coeur” in Coeur d’Alene.

It was a hard but inspiring and lifelong lesson about the heart of a community.

Nipp’s father, who worked for the city’s street department, died in a truck accident in 1961, leaving him, his mother and two younger brothers with virtually no income and in a state of shock.

Then Coeur d’Alene rallied behind a family in peril.

“The outpouring of support from the entire community was incredible. It taught me the importance of community in a life-changing way,” said the 71-year-old father of two. “It was a lesson that people really do care and will take personal time to encourage and support.

“That event was tragic, but it provided me with some role models and mentors who profoundly affected my life.”

The list of mentors is long and includes Coeur d’Alene High School basketball coach Elmer Jordan, CHS principal Harold Evans, city parks and recreation director Red Halpern, funeral home owner Gilbert Yates, and the entire extended family of longtime city Councilman Ron Edinger.

His mother subsisted on Social Security benefits and eventually opened a child care business in her home.

“She’s an incredible lady,” he said. “The strength that she showed during that time and her whole lifetime is simply amazing.”

Nipp was already developing a strong attachment to Coeur d’Alene before tragedy struck.

He grew up on Government Way just north of the Kootenai County Courthouse.

“So my world was just several blocks away. I had downtown, Memorial Field, McEuen Field ... many of my lifetime friendships were formed on those fields,” he said. “Most of my younger days were focused on recreation because there was so much here. Coeur d’Alene’s recreation and parks departments were just light years ahead of other communities.”

Nipp participated in park league, Babe Ruth, and eventually American Legion baseball. He was a key part of CHS’s state champion basketball team.

“It was just so easy to be a youngster in Coeur d’Alene. There were so many things to do. It was so delightful.

“I don’t remember having hours to be home. We just took off in the morning, and when we got hungry we’d head home. We were all over the community,” he said. “Parents watched out for each other’s kids, so it was just this community map of where to go and have fun. It was marvelous.”

Nipp graduated from CHS in 1963. His athletic prowess earned him baseball and basketball scholarships to Whitworth University in Spokane, where he studied business and economics and met his future wife, Susan, though they didn’t date until later.

He worked summers for the city’s recreation department, mostly coaching baseball. During his final year at Whitworth he was asked to help develop a new baseball diamond at McEuen Field. Nipp laid out the diamond and did much of the grunt work including tearing out the infield turf. Lights were installed and Nipp played in the facility’s first game in 1967 as a shortstop for Whitworth against the University of Idaho.

“I remember at the end of those four years being really tired of everything — tired of academics, tired of athletics,” he said. “But it was a really rewarding experience.”

He was hired as a teacher of business in a high school in Seattle, where Susan also happened to be working as a teacher of English. They began dating and were married in 1970. Nipp took another teaching job in Lake Oswego, Ore., where he also coached basketball. Susan became a flight attendant for Trans World Airlines.

“Education is one of the most important things that a person can do. It’s incredibly demanding and incredibly rewarding. I enjoyed it thoroughly, but I wasn’t ready to do that for the rest of my life,” he said. “My ultimate goal was to get into business for myself.”

So Charlie and Susan Nipp moved to Coeur d’Alene in 1979 where they knew the people and the lay of the land.

The plan was to develop quality commercial real estate, hold on to the investments long-term and manage them.

They bought a building on Sherman Avenue that now houses the Pita Pit restaurant and transformed the existing restaurant there at the time into The Landing restaurant. Nipp then built a Mr. Steak restaurant at Highway 95 and Emma Avenue.

The restaurant business was tough, he said, and not what he was ultimately aspiring to. Then he met and became a partner with Steve Meyer, who created Parkwood Business Properties in 1975.

In 1985, Nipp and Meyer acquired property at U.S. 95 and Ironwood Drive and began construction of the 170,000-square-foot Interlake Medical Building.

“That was the start of what we do now,” he said.

Since Interlake, Parkwood Properties has developed more than 30 business and medical facilities including Riverview Tower on Northwest Boulevard where the company is headquartered and managed by Nipp’s older son, Ryan.

“We have been very fortunate,” he said. “The goal was to select good locations and build projects that would stand the test of time and be patient with that.”

Susan has also enjoyed her share of success. While still in Lake Oswego, she and a friend created the “Wee Sing” children’s music appreciation series. The business, which is managed by the Nipps’ young son, Devin, has sold millions of books, CDs and videos.

In 2008, Susan wrote the children’s book “Mudgy and Millie,” a tale about a moose who leaves Tubbs Hill in search of a mouse friend. The book resulted in a 2-mile designated hike through Coeur d’Alene with five bronze sculptures of Mudgy along the search route.

They have been blessed, Nipp said, but the most rewarding thing has been the opportunity to pay back an emotional debt of gratitude to Coeur d’Alene through community service.

He has participated in many endeavors including leadership roles with Kootenai Health Foundation, the Chamber of Commerce, Jobs Plus, and Coeur d’Alene’s urban renewal agency.

And the Nipps have no plans of slowing down soon.

“There’s no deadline,” he said. “There’s just too much to do.”

It will forever be payback time.

“This community stepped up. They came out of the woodwork for my family and me,” he said. “And I’m just one of many stories like that. It’s been a remarkable place to be.”