Lula Mae Gipson was born on March 28, 1933, to the late Rosetta and John Fort in the Eastern town of Geneva in Sabine County, Texas. She was raised and educated in East Texas alongside her seven siblings. In 1953, one year following her high school graduation, the Fort family moved to Century, Florida.

In 1954, she met James Gipson and married in 1956. The two moved to Houston in 1957, bought their first house and started their family in 1958. Together, they raised five children, Otis Charles Gipson (Margaret), Tony Gipson (Carolyn), Edna M. Gipson, Bernard Gipson, and James Thomas Gipson, who still reside in Houston.

She was a homemaker and disciplinarian who enjoyed cooking for her family, sewing, reading her bible, writing and encouraging her church community through prayer. The one rule she had for all of her children, grandchildren and any children she looked after was to take a nap. At 91 years old and despite lifelong health complications, she outlived her parents and all but two of her siblings.

Lula Mae Gipson ascended to heaven on November 9, 2024. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her siblings, John Wesley Fort, Mary Kersh, Corinne Wint, Rosie Lee Fort, and Tyler Fort. She is survived by her two sisters, Loneat Brooks and Velma Moore; husband of 68 years, James; five children, 15 grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and one precious great-great-grandchild.