Oliver W. Sipple; Ex-Marine Thwarted Shooting of Ford

A disabled former Marine who said his life was ruined after he thwarted the possible assassination of President Gerald R. Ford in 1975 has been found dead in his apartment here.

Oliver W. Sipple, 47, died of natural causes, the coroner’s office said. His body was discovered Thursday by an acquaintance checking on him after he had not been seen for several days. An autopsy was performed, but the coroner’s office declined Sunday to reveal the cause of death.

Sipple, who was wounded in Vietnam, was in the crowd outside San Francisco’s St. Francis Hotel on Sept. 22, 1975, as Ford emerged. Sipple saw Sara Jane Moore’s outstretched hand holding a chrome revolver aimed at the President.

A shot was fired but missed Ford, apparently because of Sipple’s deflection. A cab driver suffered a minor wound.

Ford Letter

Sipple, who was retired from the Marines on full disability pension, received a letter from Ford expressing “heartfelt appreciation” for his actions.

Less than a week later, as the media thronged about him, it was reported that Sipple was a homosexual.

His attorney, John E. Wahl, filed a $15-million invasion-of-privacy suit against seven major newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times. The suit alleged that Sipple’s relatives stopped speaking to him and that he was exposed to contempt, ridicule and humiliation. San Francisco Superior Court Judge Ira Brown dismissed the suit and his ruling was upheld on appeal.

Public Figure

“They decided against him, wrongly I think,” Wahl said Friday. “They said that because he thrust himself in the limelight by saving the President’s life he became a public figure.”

Wahl said he last saw Sipple more than a year ago.

Moore was sentenced to life in prison for the assassination attempt.