SIMI SENIOR ALSO ACHIEVED.

Byline: Don Conkey Daily News Staff Writer

One of Bob Lipman's uncles discovered fossilized bacteria in a meteorite about 60 years before NASA.

Another uncle helped develop hydroponic gardening.

A cousin helped invent the birth control pill.

Another cousin helped develop the atomic bomb.

Yet if they were alive today and asked about their family's achievements, they'd undoubtedly mention how proud they were of Bob.

``I don't really like to talk about myself,'' Lipman said, preferring to discuss those uncles and the other relatives who made prominent marks for themselves. But Lipman belongs right alongside his family of who's whos.

Why? Because of the impact he has made in Simi Valley, New Jersey and - perhaps most importantly - in his own family.

Some background: Last summer, NASA made a big national splashdown with the ``news'' that it had discovered fossilized bacteria in a meteorite from Mars - adding fuel to the perpetually fiery debate about the existence of life beyond Earth.

Back in the 1930s - before there even was a NASA - Charles Lipman made similar news. ``Uncle Charles was dean of the graduate school at (UC) Berkeley, and was interested in microbiology. Somebody handed him a meteorite and said, `Do you think there's life in it?' He said, `I'll find out.' ''

``I was about 12 at the time. He had all the lab facilities at the university at his disposal, and the help of his graduate students, and he worked on different things and came up with it. He found living microorganisms in the meteorite. In 1933, he published a report on it.''

While nobody could be sure that the meteorite came from Mars, ``it definitely was a meteorite,'' Lipman said. ``They did the testing to determine that.''

The public reaction to Charles finding bacteria in it? ``It was greeted with either disbelief or derision,'' Lipman said. ``We even kidded about it in the family, especially my uncles and dad. We'd have Thanksgiving and different occasions when Charles would come back East, and we'd talk about it and joke about it.

``It was made more of in the scientific field, rather than the general public, because at that point finding life in a meteorite - a microbe - wasn't really the news it is today. We were interested more in the routine. But it was published in scientific journals.''

Hydroponic gardening? ``In the 1930s, my uncle Jacob Lipman, who was dean of the agricultural school and experiment station director at Rutgers University, was trying to take sterile water and grow plants in it, find out by adding different elements what the reaction would be to the plants.

``He was working with hydroponics. So, he was way ahead of his time.''

The birth control pill? ``I had a cousin who lived in Worcester, Mass., who co-invented it. Gregory Pincus. Cousin on my father's side.''

The atomic bomb? ``Another cousin on my father's side, Alex Pincus, was instrumental in developing the atomic structure of a special glass that was used in the bomb.''

All noteworthy accomplishments.

Accomplishments that any family would be proud of.

Which brings us to Bob.

Modesty aside, at age 83 he has lived a life that he can look back on and say ``when my time comes - whether it's tomorrow, or 10 years from now - I will have no regrets whatsoever.''

He worked for many years with his father on the 150-acre family farm in New Jersey, before and after attending Rutgers in the 1930s. While in college, ``I specialized in something very novel at the time: an integrated poultry setup.''

Lipman helped develop a process of taking one purebred strain of chickens, matching it with another, ``and what came out was a broiler that was fast-growing, and would have very few pinfeathers.''

``At that time - the 1930s - getting rid of pinfeathers in chickens was a very big problem. And the process worked fine, for about 10 years . . . until the market for broilers became flooded.''

After leaving farming, he became director of the U.S. Agriculture Conservation and Stabilization Service, based in New Jersey. Wife Betty had equally strong career roots as director of the New Jersey Children's Home Society.

About 10 years ago - after he'd retired and she'd decided to - they came to Simi Valley.

Not for climate.

For family.

``We have a daughter who was going through a divorce and had a child, and we felt she needed moral support,'' Bob said. ``We came out here just for that reason. It wasn't for climate or any of the other benefits of living in Southern California. It was because we felt we were needed.''

While that may have been the prime motivator for the move, neither chose to leave their hearts in Jersey. Both fully embraced the Simi Valley community.

Betty, 72, ``is very community involved,'' said Bob, and so is he. He has worked with the Simi Valley Friends of the Library, and in 1993 was given the Wayne Templeton Volunteer of the Year Award by the Simi Valley Council on Aging, where he served as president.

``It signifies outstanding service to the senior center,'' said Kathryn Medley, senior services coordinator, ``and a nice thing is that he continues to serve after winning. He's not resting on his laurels. He's continuing to serve seniors in this community who are less fortunate.

``All of this work people do is behind the scenes or of a support nature. Most do not do it for the glory. It's because they want to make a difference, and they want to help.''

Bob Lipman has been like that for a long time, as has Betty. Their daughter has remarried and has two other children, Bob said.

The grandson who prompted the move to Simi Valley is now 13. ``Last night, he called and said he had all A's on his report card,'' Lipman said.

His uncles, and his cousins, would have been proud.

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Photo: (Color) Bob Lipman, 84, recalls the many achievements of his family.

Andy Holzman/Special to the Daily News