‘Nobody’s going to replace Kip Tyner’: Fellow Tuscaloosa councilor remembers late council president

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. —

Tuscaloosa is mourning the loss of longtime city councilor Kip Tyner, who died Friday at the age of 70, just one day before his 71st birthday.

Tyner served on the city council for nearly 30 years and was known for his dedication to the community and his warm personality. Fellow councilman John Faile reflected on Tyner’s impact, saying, “It’s going to be a huge loss. Nobody’s going to replace Kip Tyner.”

Tyner’s 29 years of service to the city are especially evident in his district of Alberta, where his efforts helped transform the area.

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“In the last 20 years, Alberta has become a different place. It’s a much nicer place to live than it ever was. People should thank Kip Tyner every day for that,” Faile said.

Before his time on the council, Tyner worked as a weatherman for WCFT 33 and was also involved with Theatre Tuscaloosa. However, Faile emphasized that Tyner’s nearly three decades of public service defined his legacy.

“Kip has served for so long. I mean, this was his life. He put his life into Tuscaloosa. Some people work at a job. He didn’t work at being a city councilman. He was a city councilman,” Faile said.

One of the defining moments of Tyner’s career came in 2011, when tornadoes devastated Alberta, with 65% of the district destroyed. Shortly after, Tyner was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer. Despite the diagnosis, Tyner worked tirelessly to rebuild his community.

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Faile recalled, “He went through cancer and he was working as hard as he could. Very difficult. I’ll never forget the story, after the tornado, really before the cancer and everything, they thought we’d lost Kip and they were having a meeting at City Hall. They hadn’t heard from him. He walked in the door and they were like, whoa. We were really hoping that would happen this week sometime.”

Although Tyner’s passing was not unexpected, Faile admitted the news was still difficult to process.

“It really is heartbreaking. Until I got over here this afternoon here at the Plaza, I don’t think it hit me. We knew it was coming, but I don’t think it hit me until we got over here because I’ve been over here behind where we are and had such fun with Kip at Halloween. It was so funny to see everybody that would come through wanting their picture made with Kip Tyner,” he said.

The city is planning to honor Tyner and his contributions, with flags lowered to half-staff in his memory. Memorial arrangements will be announced soon.