James Skidmore

Grand Rapids has lost one of its heroes of education. James Devan Skidmore was born on March 7, 1933, and went to heaven on December 13, 2024. Jim was born in the village of Ontonagon on Lake Superior in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, at the height of the Great Depression. His parents were Lillian Ione Beardsley and Arthur Rexford Skidmore. The summer before fifth grade, Jim’s family moved to Grand Haven in the Lower Peninsula. Jim absolutely loved the hustle and bustle of Grand Haven, “the Oval,” the beach and beachgoers, and the comparative warmth of Lake Michigan. When his parents announced their intent to move back to Ontonagon, Jim objected and threw the biggest fit of his life – and prevailed; the family stayed in Grand Haven. Every summer from age 14 to 18, Jim worked at the beach concession in the state park, renting wool swimsuits and serving food at the grill. His lifelong love of big band music started by standing outside the Highland Gardens Pavillion and listening to live performances. Jim’s family had always been poor, but he realized it for the first time in Grand Haven. They lived in a series of modest apartments, including one with a coin-operated refrigerator, and another with gaps in the walls that allowed snow to collect on Jim and his brother while they slept. Jim’s best friends included brothers Sandy and Matt Pellegrom. In high school, Jim was editor of the yearbook, had leading roles in school plays, and earned good grades. At that time, his dad Rex’s drinking got out of control. Jim and Sandy would patrol the local bars, trying to find him. One day, Rex just disappeared. As a high school junior, Jim became the head of the household, working constantly after school and on weekends so that his family could survive. In 1951, Jim graduated seventh in his class from Grand Haven High School. Jim got a partial scholarship to study accounting at the Ferris Institute in Big Rapids. He continued to work as much as possible to cover living expenses and his share of tuition. Towards the end of his freshman year, he was sinking financially and thought he would have to drop out. An unexpected five dollars from his mother kept him afloat until summer break. By then, Jim’s mom and brother had moved to Florida to reunite with Rex, after he resurfaced. At that point, Mr. and Mrs. Pellegrom, the parents of his friends Matt and Sandy, became Jim’s guardian angels. Mr. Pellegrom, the personnel director at Grand Haven Leather Company (later Eagle-Ottawa), got Jim a summer job at the tannery that was hard work but paid well. The Pellegroms gave Jim free room and board at their home over the summer, and Mrs. Pellegrom packed him a lunch every day to take to work. “They saved me,” Jim said gratefully for the rest of his life. At Ferris, Jim was involved in every theatrical production during his four years there, even directing a play his senior year, and he wrote a weekly column “The Ferris Wheel” under the byline “Skid” in the student paper. He loved the concert given by Louis Armstrong and his All-Stars at Ferris, and he visited nightclubs in the Idlewild resort in Lake County where he saw Sammy Davis, Jr., and Della Reese perform. In 1955, Jim graduated from Ferris with his accounting degree, receiving the Omega Tau Omega award for having the highest GPA of any business student. He took a position in the accounting department at Wurzburg’s department store in downtown Grand Rapids (where the art museum now sits). Jim was never able to forgive Rex for abandoning the family, and his parents eventually divorced. Jim found that he enjoyed tutoring students more than he enjoyed his accounting job. He applied to teach bookkeeping at Godfrey Lee High School. The superintendent Lloyd Fry was supportive and agreed to hire him if he quickly got his teaching certificate. Jim got his teaching certificate and later his master’s degree from MSU. In fall 1958, Jim began working at Godfrey Lee and discovered that teaching was his passion. He taught bookkeeping, accounting, and office practice. He was an excellent classroom instructor – young, energetic and fun. He served as the faculty advisor for the Echo yearbook, Arial student newspaper, and the National Honor Society. He saw potential everywhere. He was usually able to break through to even the toughest, surliest students, including one tough guy named Garrey Peska. Jim told students that they had brains but they weren’t applying themselves and needed to work harder. He systematically took students aside to advise: “You need to go to college. You’re smart. With a college degree, you could become an accountant or an executive or an attorney.” His students uniformly responded: “No, my family can’t afford college, and I figure I’ll work at the factory, or the railroad, like my parents.” Jim persisted: “I was dirt poor and got through college with a scholarship and side jobs. If I could do it, you can do it. It will change your life.” Decades later, many of those students returned to Jim and reported: “I went to college because of you. I became a CPA, an attorney, a business executive, because of you. I had a great life because of you.” At Godfrey Lee, Jim met and fell in love with another teacher, Sally Anne Wanenmacher, and they were wed on August 19, 1963. After an idyllic decade at Godfrey Lee, Jim moved to Grand Rapids Junior (later Community) College, where he taught accounting to thousands of students over the years, mentored countless young people (consulted about job interviews, he invariably advised “get a haircut and buy a suit”), and served as chair of the Business Department and then chair of the Faculty Forum. Jim and Sally adopted three children through the D.A. Blodgett Agency. In 1970, Jim and Sally built a cottage on Lake Michigan near Stony Lake, a place of bonfires, beach walks, grilled dinners, and sunsets. Over the years, they made many memories with their Cobmoosa Shores friends. As a dad, Jim modeled a strong work ethic and being dependable. He shared his love of musical theatre, taking the family to many shows at Howmet Playhouse, Frauenthal Theatre, GR’s Civic Theatre, and the Barn Theatre. He had a real green thumb and kept beautiful baskets of flowers growing outside during warm weather, plus interesting houseplants year around. After years working as a busboy and dishwasher, he was often the one who set and cleared the dinner table and finished the dishes lickety-split. He loved to decorate the house for the holidays, season after season. He was always careful with money and sought bargains at any kind of unusual sale you can imagine. He had a great sense of humor, at times dry, punny, or juvenile. He could giggle in the church pew with his kids about a misprint in the bulletin (“O rest beside the weary road and see the angels sin”). But most of all, Jim was a MASTER STORYTELLER. He made every part of his life sound funny and interesting. In 1990, a reporter from Anchorage, Alaska called Jim to interview him about his former student Garrey Peska. Jim asked: “Is he in jail?” “No, he’s the chief of staff for the governor.” After teacher and student reconnected, Garrey arranged an internship for Jim’s son David, then studying political science at MSU, with a member of the Alaska State Senate, which led to David and his wife Ruth working for the State Senate for several years in Juneau and Fairbanks. Late in life, Jim’s aunt let slip that Rex was actually Jim’s adoptive father, and that Jim’s mother had given birth out of wedlock; “those Rockland boys were always getting the Ontonagon girls in trouble.” That discovery made Jim reevaluate Rex, realizing that this flawed man had managed to keep one promise – to always view himself as Jim’s father – without ever letting the truth slip out, no matter how drunk he got. In 1999, Jim retired from GRCC. In 2000, the College awarded him the Faculty Emeritus Award and established a scholarship fund in his and Sally’s names. Jim’s grandchildren were born in 2000 and 2002, and he and Sally eagerly volunteered to provide child care so that their daughter-in-law could return to work part-time. He was a fun and attentive grandpa and adored his grandchildren. In his retirement, Jim ran a booth in an antique store near his cottage, making a surprising amount of money which he added to his GRCC scholarship fund. When Sally developed a difficult type of dementia, Jim became her 24/7 caregiver for several years. He was able to keep her at home until her last six weeks. She passed on January 5, 2016. In 2017, Jim was inducted into the Godfrey Lee Hall of Fame. In 2018, Jim’s daughter Sue and her wife Alison moved from Texas to Grand Rapids to be close to Jim and spend time with him in his golden years. Jim chose to live independently in the house he and Sally had shared but never turned down a proposed outing from the family. He especially enjoyed outings with Sue and Alison to try new restaurants and peruse antique stores, as well as the home-cooked meals they kept him supplied with. On Thanksgiving 2024, Jim helped set the table, ate a big dinner, and helped wash the dishes. He then suffered a very short last illness, without any complaints. Admitted to the hospital, he said: “I’m grateful for today.” His grandchildren visited to thank him so much for his educational fund which had paid for their college educations, with them both graduating during his last illness. Among his last words were “My friend, Sandy” (looking at a picture from high school) and “Let’s hope we have many more years of togetherness” (to his family). HE WAS STRONG AND GOOD. Jim was preceded in death by his infant son James Gregory; mother Lillian; adoptive father Rex; the unknown “Rockland boy;” stepfather Leo T. Shields; aunt & uncle Myrtis & Leslie Bourgeois; cousins John Corser & Loretta Patchett; great-aunt & great-uncle Nancy & Roscoe Colclasure; cousins Merle, Jackie, Clara May, Shirley Ann, Mary Jane, & Robert Colclasure; sister-in-law Lynn; and special friends Sandy Pellegrom, Lee Kalenda, Marian VandeBunte, Gerrit and Cathy VanMarkenstein, Joan Nelson, and Esther Seymer. Jim is survived by many beloved students from Godfrey Lee and GRCC; his son David (Ruth Ann); daughter Sue (Allison Miller); grandchildren David and Anna (fiancé Harrison Compton); brother Robert, Sr. (Constance) of Nevada; nephew Robert, Jr. (Darlene) of Florida; nephew Richard of Florida; the extended Keehne family; childhood friend Matt Pellegrom; and Sandy’s widow Sally Pellegrom. Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, December 17, 11 AM at Matthysse Kuiper DeGraaf Funeral Home (Grandville), 4145 Chicago Drive SW. Interment Greenwood Cemetery. Relatives and friends may meet the family Monday, December 16, from 5-7 PM. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the James D. and Sally A. Business Scholarship, Grand Rapids Community College, 143 Bostwick Avenue NE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503, and the Godfrey-Lee Education Foundation, 1324 Burton Street SW, Wyoming, Michigan 49509.