Sally Anne Skidmore

  Sally Anne (Wanenmacher) Skidmore departed this world and entered paradise on January 5, 2016. She was born on August 9, 1934, to Edmund and Myrtle (Snyder) Wanenmacher at Gerber Memorial Hospital in Fremont, Michigan. She graduated from Fremont High School in 1952. She attended Western Michigan College and received her bachelor's degree in secondary education in 1956. She taught typing and shorthand at Godfrey-Lee High School in Wyoming, Michigan from 1957 to 1967. At Godfrey-Lee, she worked with, and fell in love with, fellow teacher James Devan Skidmore. Sally and Jim married on August 19, 1963. Their years at Godfrey-Lee were idyllic and they formed lifelong relationships with countless students. Sally and Jim adopted three children through the D.A. Blodgett agency. She later taught typing and secretarial courses at Grand Rapids Junior (later Community) College as an adjunct instructor for many years from the 1970s through the 1990s. In 1970, Sally and Jim built a cottage on Lake Michigan near Stony Lake, a place of bonfires and beach walks and sunsets and grilled dinners. Over the years, they made many memories with their Cobmoosa Shores friends. Sally was a loving wife and mother and she devoted her life to serving her family. She especially showed love through cooking, baking, and preparing delicious meals, and her holiday feasts were unequaled. She logged many miles driving her children to lessons, classes, activities, and camps. As an adult, she had virtually no relatives but created an extended family by enlisting her single friends to be aunts and uncles to her children - and no child ever had more attentive and loving aunts and uncles. Sally liked to play games. She especially enjoyed word play, from Scrabble to crossword puzzles to typing riddles for her children on holiday mornings that led to hidden gifts. She had a big heart for her pet animals (Oscar, Harry, Sam, Tabby, Willy, Ludwig, Roscoe, Gus, Stripey, Jess) and the Humane Society. She was compassionate and looked for opportunities to show kindness to others, such as by visiting shut-ins, having people over for dinner, and volunteering with neglected children through CASA. In addition to her mother and father, she was also preceded in death by: great-grandfather, Richard Henschke; grandmother, Otelia (Henschke) Snyder Leonard Henderson; grandmother's siblings, Oscar Henschke, James (Josie) Henschke, John (Jean) Henschke, and Lena (Charles) Gay; half-sister, Joan (Wanenmacher) DeWaelsche; infant son, James Gregory Skidmore; sister-in-law, Lynn (Chandler) Skidmore; parents-in-law, Lillian and Leo Shields; aunt-in-law, Myrtis Bourgeois; and special friends, Esther Seymer, Rosa Thorpe, Joan Nelson, Ben Van Andel, Gerrit Van Markenstein, Lorna Montgomery and Mary Jo Gillen. She is survived by: husband of 52 years, Jim; son, David L. (Ruth) Skidmore; daughter, Mary Susan (Allison Miller) Skidmore; grandson, David B. Skidmore; granddaughter, Anna P. Skidmore; brother-in-law, Robert A. (Constance) Skidmore, Sr.; nephews, Robert A. (Darlene) Skidmore, Jr., M.D., and Richard A. Skidmore; nephews and nieces by her half-sister Joan, including Mark (Ruth) DeWaelsche; and special friends, Jay Loeks, Kay Molinaar, Judy Parrot, Lee Kalenda, Marian VandeBunte, Cathy Van Markenstein, and Jewel Borgeld. Funeral services will be held on Saturday 11 AM at Matthysse-Kuiper-DeGraaf Funeral Home (Grandville) 4145 Chicago Drive SW. Interment Greenwood Cemetery. Relatives and friends may meet the family Friday from 5-7 PM and Saturday from 10-11 AM at the funeral home. 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.