This tribute is to Skip. Please share your favourite stories and memories of him with us on this page.
Skip always put others before himself. Family and friends came first no matter what. Most notably he was particularly fond of his in-laws and mercilessly teased all children in the family both in the UK and the USA whenever he was with them.
He will be remembered for always doing what is right regardless of the circumstances and going the extra mile to help anyone who needed it. He was an attentive listener, enjoyed chatting to people on a one to one basis and made everyone feel special. 
Skip was born in East Liverpool Ohio and spent his childhood in Chester West Viginia. He spent a lot of time with his grandparents and aunts and uncles and he always spoke fondly of this time in his life.
After joining the military at 18, Skip did two tours of duty in Vietnam. He was then stationed in Virginia until being posted to Germany. At this point in his life he took on a father figure role for his two youngest brothers taking them back to Germany with him.
Jeff and Johnny then moved back Stateside with him to Washington State until they were old enough to move out on their own.
Skips final assignement was in Wales (UK) where he retired from the army at the rank of Sergeant First Class.
His military career can attest to the kind of man Skip was and it led him into the arms of his best friend Cathie.
Skip and Cathie raised their son, David, in the UK where they joined West Lancashire Yacht Club. He wasn't a sailor himself but he was determined to assist in any way possible. From helping David pack up his boat in the pouring rain, to rigging boats for junior training sessions and showing club members that this gruff American personality could diagnose and repair club rescue boat engines in minutes. He also greatly enjoyed playing snooker on a Thursday evening at the club with some of his friends.
After David moved out, Skip and Cathie remained members and Skip helped introduce and develop club RC sailing fleets. He was always passionate about his remote control hobbies and model trains, or as we called them his toys. Planes, trains, cars, boats and helicopters. His motto was ‘he who dies with the most toys wins’. 
After retiring Skip got heavily involved at the yacht club as Bosun and in further developing the remote control sailing fleets. He would call the people involved all the time to make sure they would turn up to race! He loved the competition but could never get his head around the rules of sailing! He would spend hours chatting with David and his father-in-law trying to understand why he received a penalty!
Skip’s 8 year old neice described him perfectly, ‘Uncle Skip is like a peanut, hard and crunchy on the outside but soft and sweet on the inside’
Lets raise a glass of Southern Comfort his favourite tipple and celebrate Skip!