Floyd J. Skidmore
"FJ"

Founder - FJ Skidmore & Son Construction
Battle Creek City Commission (1963-67)
Battle Creek Urban Renewal Committee (1963-67)
Battle Creek Board of Education (President 1939-40)
Battle Creek Board of Education (1934-42, 48-52)
Battle Creek Tax Allocation Board (1938-40)
Exchange Club (Charter Member and President)
Community Hospital (Board of Directors)
Goodwill Industries (Board of Directors)
Community Chest (Board of Directors)
Executives Club (Board of Directors)
First Congregational Church (Chair - Grounds)
Ira A. Beck Lodge F&AM - The Knights Templar
Battle Creek Shrine Club (President)
The Consistory - The Chapter
Mystic Shrine - Shrine Band
Post and Foreman's Band

Stanley L. Skidmore
"Skid"

Battle Creek Central High School (Class President)
All-State Quarterback 1922 (Football)
All-State Shortstop 1922-23 (Baseball)
All-State Honorable Mention 1922-23 (Basketball)
University of Michigan Varsity Baseball (1926)
University of Michigan "M" Men (1927)
University of Michigan Graduate 1928 (Education)
Major League Baseball Contract (St. Louis Cardinals)
Battle Creek City Ping Pong Runner-Up (1934)
Battle Creek City Golf Champion (1946, 1953)
Battle Creek City Bowling Champion (3 years)
Professional Bowler
Founder - Skidmore Coal and Paint Company
President - FJ Skidmore & Son Construction
AT Metcalfe Lodge No. 419 F&AM
U of M Club of Battle Creek - Lions Club
Athelstan Club

  




Mr. Skidmore Goes To Battle Creek

Floyd James Skidmore was born on March 22, 1884 on the old Atwood Farm, located in the 15800-block of E UV Avenue, across from the sawmill on Bear Creek (northeast of Fulton, in southern Kalamazoo County, Michigan). His parents were Byron Augustus and Anna Wedel Skidmore. His grandparents, Rufus and Martha, also lived in the house. As a boy, he walked to the nearby Lynn School (47th Street and UV Avenue) where he and his six siblings attended classes.

(Click on any article or photograph to enlarge)

(Byron) Augustus & Rufus Skidmore homestead
1890 Wakeshma Township Map
Kalamazoo County, Michigan

His grandfather was a farmer, who moved from northeastern Ohio to Fulton in 1870. Rufus also served as the township justice of the peace for fifteen years, until he was killed in a buggy accident in 1893. 

Following Rufus' death, the Skidmores moved west, to Brady Township. In 1901, typhoid fever struck the Skidmores, afflicting every member of the family, and tragically taking the life of Floyd's father.


At the age of sixteen, Floyd dropped out of school and began working as a laborer at neighborhood farms, stacking straw and shoveling cow dung, for twelve dollars a month. He endured a premature adulthood.   

Floyd loved music, as did the entire Skidmore family. He learned to play tuba in the family band at the age of eight. His brother Ray played bass and baritone horns, Earl played coronet, sister Grace played piano, and Carl played drums. The family band was well-known in the Fulton area.

"Love of music never dies, no matter how busy you are
with other things." -- Floyd J. Skidmore

On weekends, Floyd was able to enjoy the music at local dancing parties. At a particular one in Scotts, he met and fell in love with Jennie Heiber. She lived on a nearby farm. On November 8, 1902, eighteen-year-old Floyd and seventeen-year-old Jennie were married. 

"Getting married was the best thing that ever happened to me." -- Floyd J. Skidmore

The couple moved to the George Clipfell farm southeast of Scotts and they ran the farm for a year. It was not long before Floyd had determined that bigger things were in his future.

In 1904, he came to Battle Creek, looking for more lucrative employment as a fireman on the Grand Trunk railroad. He was hired for the job ... but the day before he started work with the railroad, Edward Case, a foreman for VanderHorst Construction Company of Kalamazoo, asked Floyd if he would like to learn the carpenter trade, and handed him a set of tools.

"FJ" as he preferred to be called, never looked back.

As it turns out, FJ's first job working for VanderHorst was to build a new shop for Grand Trunk Railroad. FJ dug the hole for the foundation and learned construction from the ground up. 

Grand Trunk shops under construction

FJ soon realized that he was uniquely-skilled at precision carpentry-work. His hands were large and sturdy, with wrists so thick that he could hardly button his shirt cuffs. He was mechanically gifted, combining his innate competence with tools with the conceptual ability to build from scratch, and he put these skills to work in the design and construction of the Goguac Lake Roller Coaster and Dance Pavilion in 1904.

Goguac Lake Roller Coaster
and Dance Pavilion

FJ's skills were in high demand, as Battle Creek was a city on the rise. Local businessmen, John Harvey Kellogg and C.W. Post, had recently invented healthy breakfast cereal products for the Battle Creek Sanitarium health resort. These products, Kelloggs Corn Flakes and Post Grape Nuts, were in their nascency and poised to take the world by storm. 


The sleepy town of Battle Creek, Michigan was about to become one of America's great boom-towns ... The Cereal City.

For the next ten years, FJ worked for a number of local contractors: Ruel Seeley, Henry Hansen, and Will Sleeper, among others. He was hand-picked to do interior finish-work on the old A.B. Williams residence on N.E. Capital Avenue and a new home at Chestnut and Calhoun Streets for a local minister, Carleton Brooks Miller. 

In those days, it was not unusual to see Floyd Skidmore riding his bicycle around town from job to job, wearing his usual pendleton flannel shirt, and with his toolbox strapped to a rack on the back.

Meanwhile, FJ was also building a family at home. Jennie had given birth to a son, Stanley Lavern Skidmore. They moved into a residence at 138 Elk Street in Battle Creek.

Stanley L. Skidmore
(Age 3, 1907)
FJ Skidmore & Son

By 1914, FJ was ready to start his own general contracting company. He named the firm "FJ Skidmore & Son, General Contractors" even though his son was only eleven years old. Indeed, Floyd was as forward-thinking as he was strong-willed. Quiet, yet resolute, he never compromised. He was a man of vision and unparalleled determination, and the way he named his company was a reflection of it.

He opened an office on Capital Avenue, in downtown Battle Creek. From this location, he offered his construction services.

A postcard - front and back - from 1916,
looking northbound up Capital Avenue
("Cap(ital) by Skidmors looking toward Jackson")

Business was slow at first. FJ barely made ends meet doing small carpentry jobs, until September 1918, when a Spanish Flu outbreak at nearby Camp Custer required the construction of thousands of wooden caskets. Every day for several months, FJ drove his jitney out to the military camp and hand built caskets. 

 
Floyd Skidmore's World War I
Draft Registration Card

Over the next three years, almost thirteen thousand Michiganders died from the influenza.


These were brutal times. Even with the Camp Custer work, the situation for the Skidmores had become untenable, and fifteen-year-old Stan dropped out of school to work at Michigan Carton Company, in order to help the family make ends meet.

Fortunately, things improved with the conclusion of the war. By late 1919, Battle Creek was on the road to recovery. Stan returned to school and prospects began to look a little brighter for FJ Skidmore & Son.


Stan Takes The Field

Back at school, Stan (a junior at Battle Creek Central High School) made a name for himself throughout the state as a superb athlete. He won All-State honors in interscholastic football, baseball, and an honorable mention in basketball.

On November 18, 1922, Stan cemented his sports legacy at BCCHS with an incredible football performance that endures to this day. As quarterback, he single-handedly destroyed Kalamazoo Central by rushing for 286 yards in a 26-6 upset victory.


Richard E. Remington, sports editor for the Detroit News, named Stan Skidmore ... "the Walter Camp of Michigan football. He is one of the best, if not the best, running back on the Michigan scholastic gridiron this year. He bears a resemblance to Kipke when that great player made the all-state in 1919."  

By now, Stan had already broken his nose several times on the playing field. He visited a specialist, who carefully re-broke and straightened it. A few weeks later, Stan broke it playing basketball, and he never bothered to fix it again.

In the autumn of 1923, Stan was elected Class President of Battle Creek Central High School. And again, he was selected to All-State athletic honors in baseball and basketball. Stan graduated in the spring of 1924 and soon headed east to Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan.

FJ couldn't be happier that Stan was attending one of the finest colleges in the land, particularly since he, himself, had not progressed beyond the ninth grade.

Stan's athletic career at Michigan started with great promise. For the 1925 season, Michigan head football coach Fielding Yost had picked Stan to be a potential starting quarterback.

(Lima News - August 1925)
1925 Michigan Alumnus Magazine

But for Stan, his football dreams would lie broken ... literally ... on the practice field on October 1, 1925, as he suffered a broken leg during the final preseason scrimmage. His injury made national news, as reported by the Associated Press.

 

Stan never returned to the football field. Instead, he turned his focus to the 1926 Michigan baseball season. The Wolverines, under head coach Ray Fisher, finished 16-7 (9-2 in conference) and won the Big Ten Conference Championship. Stan was starting second baseman.  


Stan is seated on the floor to the right
Stan majored in physiology (education) at Michigan and was a member of the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity, along with his college roommate and good friend, All-American Bennie Oosterbaan. 

  

 
Alpha Sigma Phi group photo
(Stan is fifth from right)

Somewhere along the way, possibly at high school or at Michigan, Stan earned the nickname "Skid" ... and it stuck with him for the rest of his life. No one is really sure as to its origin.

Skid's baseball exploits had caught the attention of the St. Louis Cardinals major league baseball team, and they offered him a contract to play professional baseball. He turned down the offer.

Perhaps it was because by early 1927, Skid was dating a young woman from his hometown named Vivian Esther Swain, daughter of David and Edith Swain. The Swains had recently moved from East Leroy to Battle Creek. Vivian was a teacher, having attended Western Normal Teachers College (Western Michigan University). She was highly-intelligent, refined, and in her own subtle way, domineering. Just what Skid needed to whip him into shape.

 

Stanley married Vivian on February 3, 1928, two months before graduating from the University of Michigan. They were married in the living room of their new home at 179 Orchard Avenue. Reverend Carleton Brooks Miller of the First Congregational Church solemnized the event. The home was given to them by his father as a wedding gift. 

 

FJ & Son Expands

While Skid was attending college, FJ was gradually building a successful construction business. In addition, after building and flipping several 'transitional' homes as a way to earn money, he finally built a permanent home for himself, at 59 Guest Street. It would be his residence for the remaining forty-eight years of his life.


59 Guest Street

The house was designed by local architect A.B. Chanel. It featured an upstairs apartment, as well as another apartment (that served as FJ's home office) above the separate garage. The English-style cottage included many high-end finishes, such as marble window sills in the bathroom, brass toe hooks at both doors, pink marble fireplace fascia, and inlaid terrazzo flooring. The home was beautiful yet modest. Perfectly befitting a dignified man like FJ.


Skidmore & Son was building some of the most prestigious homes in Battle Creek, and FJ maintained a photographic portfolio of his residential work ...

  
Glen Cross Home (1920)
(FJ personally did the carpentry work for his good friend)

 
Dane Kline Home (1928)
(George Marble Architect)

 
Stan and Vivian Skidmore Home (1928)
179 Orchard Avenue

Wellington Burt Home (1929)
55 Orchard Avenue
Art Smith Home (1929)
77 Elizabeth Street
Dr. Rosenfeld Home (1924)
70 Elizabeth Street
FJ Skidmore Home (1927)
59 Guest Street
(Home office above garage)
FJ Skidmore & Son was earning a reputation as one of the top builders in the region. The Battle Creek Enquirer & News published a story in December of 1928, listing several recent projects, including Schulte-United, Springfield School, Sanitarium Equipment Company, United Steel and Wire, A-B Stove Company, National Electric Sign Works, Western Art Mosaic Company, apartments at 448 West Michigan Avenue, as well as both the Michigan and Bijou Theaters.

They had also completed Fremont School and W.K. Kellogg Agricultural School in Hickory Corners.

 
W.K. Kellogg Agricultural School
Fremont School

  
Bijou Theater

National Electric Sign Works
Apartments at 448 W. Michigan (2017)

With Skid's return to the business, the company broadened its services to include building supplies and coal for the burgeoning city. As the nation was spiraling into the great depression in 1929, FJ Skidmore & Son was expanding, with the purchase of an entire block (including the Kingman Building) in downtown Battle Creek, for a half million dollars.
 
(Detroit Free Press)

FJ and Skid forged a unique working relationship. Skid was the inside guy, running the store, selling the paint and coal. FJ was the outside guy, supervising construction in the field. Of course, FJ had the final say in any important business matters. This patriarchal arrangement worked well for nearly fifty years.

Skid remained active in athletics, volunteering as an assistant football and basketball coach for Battle Creek Central High School, and competing in city-league baseball, bowling, and golf.

  
Skid and Vivian (circa 1930)

Skid as 1933 Battle Creek Central High School assistant football coach (jacket)


Here is a portion of a hilarious article from the early 1930s, describing Skid's ever-present competitiveness. The Enquirer & News writer describes a baseball game as if he were Grantland Rice ... and Skid is at the center of the story!!

This vintage photo captures Skid at his easy-going best,
confidently striding in his saddle shoes
Building Battle Creek

1931 was another good year for the company. FJ began the practice of placing full-page advertisements in the Battle Creek Enquirer & News every January 1st, to trumpet his accomplishments ... a total of 114 projects ... a new grocery store, a new factory, various renovations, and the Kingman Memorial Museum.

Kingman Memorial Museum

In March of 1932, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation announced the construction of a camp for underprivileged children near Pine Lake. FJ Skidmore & Son won the general contract, valued at $75,000, for twenty cabins and an administration center. 

FJ and Stan (right) discussing the W.K. Kellogg Foundation project
 at Pine Lake with Sarvis Architects

The Pine Lake project began with the vision of W.K. Kellogg himself, when he was flying over Pine Lake  in 1930. He saw the lovely beach area and sought it as a site for log cabins he wanted to build for a summer camp. During World War II, the site was used for U.S. Coast Guard training and was visited by then Lt. Jack Dempsey, head of the Coast Guard’s physical fitness program. 

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation conveyed the property to the state in 1947 to promote the health, education and welfare of mankind, and it was named the Michigan Veteran’s Vocational School in 1952. The camp still exists today, as the Michigan Career and Technical Institute.
An original, but restored, Skidmore cabin at Pine Lake
Ping Pong In The Cereal City

The year was 1934. A ping pong fad was sweeping the nation, and it had become the hottest sport in Battle Creek, Michigan. Stan Skidmore was not about to let this opportunity slip by.

He jumped in with both feet, joining one of the premier leagues in the city. As a psychological strategy, he adopted an unusual eastern-style pencil paddle grip and honed his skill with it, eventually ranking among the top five in the city and defeating the reigning league champion.

 

The Worst Of Times Were The Best Of Times

During the mid-1930s, at the height of the depression, Battle Creek was thriving, in large part due to the overwhelming success of the cereal business. The Kellogg Company went to six-hour work days, in four shifts, in order to increase employment by twenty-five percent. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation also initiated a number of construction projects to support the local economy.

In 1935, FJ Skidmore & Son was doing better than ever, having completed 153 building projects (a thirty-four percent increase over 1934) including ... Michigan Bakeries, Inc., Old-Merchants Trust Bank, Kresge's, Battle Creek Post Office, Lakeview Bank, Post Theater, St. Paul Baptist Church, Bijou Theater, Clark Tractor Company, Savoy Hotel, Veterans Administration (Camp Custer) and dozens of homes.


Kresges
Veterans Administration (Camp Custer)

1936 was even better, with FJ Skidmore & Son fulfilling 226 building contracts (a 48 percent gain from 1935) including three major projects for United Steel and Wire Co. 


By 1938, the economy was slowly turning around and the company placed increased emphasis on residential renovation and new construction with the new slogan "Modernize your home the Skidmore way"...

 

In February of 1938, Skidmore was beginning to build a $50,000 addition to Level Park School when the local Building Trades Council halted construction over the use of non-union labor.

Since the project was PWA/Kellogg Foundation-funded, FJ agreed to hire men on relief as a way of providing assistance. But the council required that every man be a union member, or else the union would pull the bricklayers, electricians, and plumbers off the job. After several months of negotiations, the project moved forward, with union labor.

 
(Detroit Free Press)
Level Park School

On the other side of town, at Bailey Park, Skidmore was also building a large, four-column memorial park entrance. In April of 1939, the structure was completed and dedicated to the late mayor, John W. Bailey.

(Battle Creek Enquirer & News)
The company also completed construction on Redfield's Lubrication Palace at Michigan Avenue and Grand Street, and placed an advertisement to celebrate its opening.

 
During this time, Skidmore also built the Miller Chapel and classroom wing of the First Congregational Church as well as Sturgis High School.
First Congregational Church

Sturgis High School
-----

The Skidmores enjoyed their good work and good fortune. Vivian and Skid were busy with sports and raising their young family, a daughter (Gloria) and a son (Gary). 

 
FJ and Jennie (who at times liked to call herself Jane, Jean ... or sometimes even Barbara) played cards with their neighborhood bridge club ... on the weekends that FJ wasn't playing tuba with the Shrine Band.

FJ and Jennie

They also frequently traveled to nearby family reunions, usually held at local farms. Jennie always brought one of her legendary prune pies (made with her secret ingredient - bacon fat).

FJ also fancied himself as a chef, cooking oyster casseroles every Easter, and hand-making sauerkraut in large ceramic crocks in his basement. Every morning, he made scrambled eggs for breakfast ... the runniest, barely-cooked eggs imaginable. And he always covered them with odious amounts of black pepper.
FJ, Vivian and Jennie

FJ often shared his good fortune. He frequently purchased pendelton shirts and bottles of his favorite hair tonic (by the case) for family and friends. He loaned money to them too. He was burned once, when he gave an advance to a subcontractor, and wound up in court. Still, FJ always felt it was his duty to help others.

Politically a Republican (as was Stan), FJ voted for FDR during World War II because he believed that 'America came first'. 

He flew a United States flag in front of his house almost every day of his life.

FJ Skidmore - Public Servant
FJ's well-earned reputation for personal integrity enabled him to be elected to the Battle Creek Board of Education in 1934, despite the fact that he never finished high school.

He was highly-respected as a man who spoke directly and with candor. He was cordial and pleasant, but he tended to be serious and was not known to laugh in public.

He had tremendous self-discipline. He could be curt on occasion, yet he was also known to be even-handed and fair in disputes. He was also a spartan and practical man, owning only black socks because they 'went with everything.' Such practicality was refreshing and useful in politics.

FJ was very proud of Battle Creek and believed that it was not only a privilege, but a responsibility to serve the community. These values would lead to an exceptional life of public service that would extend for several decades. In 1938, FJ was selected by the county commission to be a member of the Calhoun County Tax Allocation Board. He took the lead in holding tax rates down, proposing to freeze rates at three mills. The board adopted his proposal.

  
(Marshall Evening Chronicle - July 1938)

FJ was re-elected to the Battle Creek Board of Education in 1936 and again in 1939, with the trustees selecting him as President of the board. He served on the board until 1942.

Perhaps the best example of Floyd Skidmore's commitment to public service was his registering for the military draft in World War II, at the age of 58.





The War Comes To Battle Creek

The Battle Creek Sanitarium was the largest and most significant landmark in the city. Originally opened as a health resort by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg for the Seventh Day Adventist Church, it had fallen into disrepair during the depression. In fact, the property was in receivership as the nation entered into World War II.

It was Floyd Skidmore who recommended that the derelict structure be converted into a military hospital. The United States government acquired the building in August of 1942 and selected FJ Skidmore & Son to rebuild it into a hospital for wounded soldiers returning from the war.


Battle Creek Enquirer & News
November 18, 2002



With a tight budget and an even tighter schedule, FJ and Skid took on the most urgent and important project of their careers. Working around the clock, three shifts a day for six months (and finishing six days ahead of schedule), the construction team converted the building into the Percy Jones General Hospital.




FJ Skidmore & Son enlarged the capacity of the hospital from 1,000 beds to 1,500, and constructed rails and ramps throughout the facility, to make it more accessible. 

The army hospital specialized in neurosurgery, plastic surgery and the fitting of artificial limbs. Approximately 100,000 military patients were treated at the hospital, including future United States Senators Philip Hart, Robert Dole and Daniel Inouye. The building was eventually named after them, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.



Even with the hospital completed, there were ongoing capacity issues. FJ allowed the army to place overflow recuperating soldiers in his garage apartment. This turned out to be a blessing, as many of the guests were musicians. FJ and Jennie enjoyed a number of impromptu living room performances.

The war effort for FJ and Skid also included selling war bonds. They helped Skid's daughter, Gloria, win a war bond sales contest sponsored by her junior high school. The prize was a ride in a military 'duck' vehicle at Fort Custer.

Rolling With The Times

With the war putting a damper on the construction business, Skid decided to spend more time focusing on one of his passions, bowling. Three nights week, at Sharkey's Bowling Alley (located behind the Skidmore offices), Skid participated in bowling leagues. He often practiced there at lunch as well. The practice paid off. He won three city championships and rolled several 300 games in competition. 

Skid joined the professional bowler's tour for a short time, competing in Chicago, Seattle, and Fort Worth. He was moderately successful, earning incremental income and gaining some national publicity. The family regularly traveled together to these tournaments to root him on.


  
(Milwaukee Journal, Bloomington Pantagraph, Detroit Free Press)

Skid won his first of three Battle Creek City Bowling Championships, and finished fifth in the state tournament, in 1946.

  

The Building Boom Resumes

The post-war building boom started with a bang for FJ Skidmore & Son, as their warehouse burned to the ground on the night of August 24, 1944. FJ and Skid's main office was not affected by the fire. 

(Detroit Free Press)

The Skidmore office, located at 52 Capital Avenue SW, was a low-slung structure, with a drive-through porte cochere and small office/storage annex on the opposite side. The main office featured a glass store-front with a small lobby inside. A waist-high counter separated the public and private spaces of the office. This is where customers purchased coal and paint supplies. 


Along the left wall, on the main floor, was the paint sales area, behind which was a creaky wooden staircase, leading to two small upstairs meeting rooms. This is where the construction bidding took place.

On the main floor, down a hallway, was the business office, finished in more elegant walnut paneling and furnished with a large desk. FJ and Skid shared that office. Further down the hall was another meeting room where plans could be laid out and discussed. A back door led to a four-bay truck maintenance garage and prep area. And all the way back, in the rear corner of the garage, was the toilet.

Behind the office was a platform onto which coal trucks drove to measure their payloads. Inside, near the lobby counter, was a large scale that measured the weight of the vehicle. A large coal yard included a rail siding where rail cars dumped coal into piles by type - soft coal, hard coal, coke, of all shapes and sizes.

August 1945, almost exactly one year after the warehouse fire, the company celebrated the completion of the Elm Street Hospital.  


Over the next several years, FJ Skidmore & Son continued to build and/or renovate hundreds of churches, schools, businesses, and homes throughout southwest Michigan, including ... Marshall High School (and gymnasium), Eagle Street Lutheran Church (Marshall), Hill Auto Parts (Jackson), Post Research and Engineering Building (Battle Creek), Ralston Plant (Battle Creek), Kellogg Company - Building 20-B (Battle Creek), Post School (Battle Creek), Clear Lake Camp Complex, Battle Creek Central High School (reconstruction), St. Paul Lutheran Church (Battle Creek), and twenty Fort Custer mess halls.



 
St. Paul Lutheran Church (Battle Creek)

Battle Creek Central High School
(reconstruction)


(Associated Press)









Outdoorsmen

One thing that FJ and Skid had in common was their love of the outdoors. For FJ, it was about reconnecting to his roots, to the old family farm, and basic living. For Skid, it was mostly about having a good time ... and keeping score.



Both were avid and accomplished hunters and fishermen. They enjoyed spending time together, roughing it in the great outdoors. On weekends, they regularly hunted and fished along local creeks and streams, and always brought home game for dinner.

Skid with Randy Puckett - Coal Company Manager
and Charlie Fauquher - Superintendent of Construction



Skid with Randy Puckett


Every autumn, the crew made the arduous sixteen-hour drive to their cabin in the upper peninsula for their big annual deer hunt, frequently stopping along the way to pick up necessary supplies, like cases of Carling Blue Label beer ...  

Skid, loading up the car with essentials for the trip north

The 'cabin' started as a tent near Iron Mountain, but eventually, FJ purchased several acres and built a cedar-paneled structure with separate bedrooms, a kitchen, and a simple, yet comfortable great room, where hundreds of hours of bridge were played. A large Franklin stove provided heat. There was no indoor plumbing.

The cabin was located on Thousand Island Lake Road, near Watersmeet, Michigan. The nearest city of any size (with a grocery) was Eagle River, Wisconsin, thirty miles due south.

FJ and Skid were serious sportsmen. They could both handle a gun or rod with great aplomb ... and they both seemed to come by it naturally. Every year, they brought home venison for the table and trophies for their walls. Skid actually killed fifty bucks in fifty years (he kept count).

FJ, Skid, and Lyle Swain (Vivian's brother)


Skid, FJ, and Mike Skidmore (FJ's nephew)
Back home, FJ purchased a 400 acre farm south of Galesburg where he raised 30 Holstein dairy cattle as well as 75 Herefords. He also grew sweet corn, green beans, and strawberries on the property. 

He purchased another 80 acres of land in Pennfield Township that he designated as a game preserve, and planted thousands of pine seedlings (some of them subsidized by the government as part of an early environmental program). The family regularly drove out to the property and picked wild blackberries and mushrooms.
Floyd Skidmore - City Champion

As FJ neared sixty years of age, with his construction business in overdrive, he turned more of his attention to civic engagement. As a charter member and director of the Exchange Club of Battle Creek, a local philanthropic organization, FJ was selected as its President. 

He was also named President of the Battle Creek Shrine Club, capping the plethora of other honors he earned with the organization.

FJ on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City 
for the National Shriners Parade

He was appointed to director positions with the Community Chest, Goodwill Industries, Executives Club and Community Hospital. FJ was active in his church (First Congregational Church), where he served as Chairman of the Grounds Committee for seventeen years. In 1948, he decided, once again, to run for the Battle Creek Board of Education, and won ... again. He served another four years.

  
Battle Creek Board of Education (1950)
Stanley Skidmore - City Champion
Stan Skidmore
Battle Creek Match Play Champion
(1946, 1953)

Stan Skidmore was never an aesthetic golfer. He described himself as "a slugger" of the ball. His sheer athleticism ... and devastatingly accurate putter ... were what enabled him to win time and time again. In the 1946 Battle Creek Match Play Golf Championship, held at Marywood Country Club, Skid's masterful putter turned red-hot and he defeated all challengers on the way to winning his first city title.

 

In 1950, Skid again led the city golf championship from wire to wire, until Jim Frost (a college student and member of the University of New Mexico golf team) sank a twenty-five foot birdie putt on the final hole to snatch away the tournament.


  

In 1951, Skid and Jim Frost partnered to win the Battle Creek Best Ball Golf Championship.


Two years later, in 1953, the forty-nine year-old elder exacted sweet revenge on his partner and rival. Skid fired a final round two-under-par 70 (with only 10 putts on the final nine holes) to defeat Jim Frost in the match play final, and win his second city championship.

                                          Final Match:
                                         Par            554 343 445 444 344 345 72
                                         Skidmore  534 353 545 343 344 345 70
                                         Frost         444 443 445 345 454 346 74 
         
 
 

Later that same year, Skid won the President's Trophy at the Battle Creek Chamber of Commerce Open, carding a 77 at the difficult Battle Creek Country Club.



A Skidmore Renaissance
The Skidmores - mid 1950s

The development of Battle Creek had reached its economic peak by the mid-1950s. The cereal business was at its zenith, and while the area economy remained strong, opportunities for new construction, particularly commercial jobs, were beginning to soften somewhat. Labor costs were rising and profit margins were narrowing. Even though the patriarch turned seventy years old in 1954, FJ continued to move the company forward, taking on several large-scale contracting projects.


      

FJ at the office (1955)

He was in the midst of completing the the largest project of his career, the Calhoun County Courthouse and Jail. The company had also recently finished the Redemption Lutheran Church, Coburn Elementary School, Howard City Lutheran Church, and the dormitories at the Coldwater State School. There were certainly no signs of slowing down.

Redemption Lutheran Church (Battle Creek)

Coburn School

Howard City Lutheran Church

Coldwater State School Dormitories


The company was also expanding its product offering, adding architectural and residential design services. Skid's son (Gary) and son-in-law (Tom Olin) joined the firm to help with the workload.

On March 13, 1955, the Battle Creek Enquirer & News devoted most of their front page to the Skidmore's construction of the new Calhoun County Courthouse and Jail. The $1,500,000 project, designed by Lewis J. Sarvis, was a gorgeous example of mid-century modernist architecture, and a complete departure from the early buildings Skidmore constructed five decades earlier.

The courthouse was dedicated on April 7, 1956. The precise, clean lines of the finished project were hallmarks of a refined and skilled builder. The Calhoun County Courthouse was undoubtedly one of Skidmore's greatest achievements.




In the following years, Skidmore completed the Paw Paw Trinity Lutheran Church and St. Paul Lutheran Church (Coldwater), both with soaring rooflines and and glass walls, reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright's church designs. 
Paw Paw Trinity Lutheran Church

 
  St. Paul Lutheran Church (Coldwater)

FJ Skidmore & Son also bid on smaller projects, such as the relocation of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in McCamly Park.

(Battle Creek Enquirer & News)

Gas stations became a particular specialty for FJ Skidmore & Son. The company could knock one out in a matter of weeks. They built dozens of Clark, Texaco, Standard Oil and Sinclair stations throughout southern Michigan and northern Indiana during the 1960s.  


In December 1966, Sears, Roebuck & Company announced a new half-million dollar expansion downtown off Riverside Drive, and Skidmore served as general contractor on the project.

 
(Battle Creek Enquirer & News)

The Skidmores were surprised and flattered when Sentry Insurance Company knocked on their door and requested to feature their company in a national print advertisement. After fifty years in business, it was well-earned recognition. The ad ran in several national magazines during the mid-1960s.




Busy Helping Battle Creek
"Keep busy." -- Floyd J. Skidmore

This was FJ's creed. Here is a true story of his service on the Community Hospital Board exemplifying that creed ...

After the conclusion of a hospital board meeting, while other members of the board were still chatting and collecting their papers, one of them looked out the window and noticed that FJ had walked out to his car, opened the trunk, and was pulling overalls over his business suit. The board members stood at the window and watched as he lifted a large wooden toolbox out of the trunk, and carried it inside the hospital. The board members inquisitively leaned out into the hallway to watch FJ clean and lubricate every lock and hinge of every door on that floor, carefully checking every latch to make sure they functioned properly. The other board members could only shake their heads and smile.

True story. That was FJ Skidmore.  

One of FJ's greatest lifelong passions was music. As an eight-year-old boy, he stood on a chair while he learned to play the tuba. As an eighty-year-old man, he played in the Shrine Band, the Exchange Club Band, and with the Battle Creek Symphony. At home, he and Jennie often accompanied each other, him on the tuba and her on the Wurlitzer organ.



As a sportsman, 'wily old FJ' still had a few tricks up his sleeve. On the opening day of the '61 trout season, when lesser fishermen were crowding the waters of popular fishing holes and going home empty-handed, the master (wearing his trademark pendleton shirt) was wading in an abandoned stretch of Seven Mile Creek, catching his limit of brown and brook trout.
 

"I can't understand how some men think of that time when they can retire and do nothing. You always have to have something to strive for, to look forward to." -- Floyd J. Skidmore


In September of 1962, the Battle Creek Board of Education asked FJ to assist Kellogg Community College in purchasing Calvary Baptist Church. He was successful in helping the parties reach an agreement.


Battle Creek showed its first signs of decline in in the early 1960s, when the census recorded a 9.2 percent loss of citywide population. The local economy was flattening, as was employment. Crime and racial strife were increasing. People were beginning to leave Battle Creek for the nearby suburbs and surrounding smaller towns, away from the developing problems in the Cereal City.   


FJ could see Battle Creek's darkening horizon and decided to do something about it. In 1963, he was appointed to the Battle Creek Urban Renewal Committee. Soon after, at the age of seventy-nine, FJ Skidmore ran for the Battle Creek Commission ... and won easily.  
 

After the election, it was revealed that a number of local radio stations were using racial epithets and other forms of prejudice during the campaign. FJ was among three commissioners who lodged a formal complaint against those radio stations, describing "malicious, unfounded, anti-Negro appeals carried on local stations" and requested an investigation by the State Fair Campaign Practices Commission.

  
(Ironwood Daily Globe, Benton Harbor News Palladium, Hillsdale Daily News)

In 1964, FJ was involved in several debates regarding a proposed 4.4 mill property tax increase. His opposition to the increase was based on the belief that it would "impose too large a burden on taxpayers." 
(Battle Creek Enquirer & News)

Instead, FJ campaigned for a new city income tax with the understanding that property taxes would be reduced by two mills. His proposal was adopted, but the episode was a bitter lesson for him, as subsequent commissions reneged on that arrangement, and later raised property taxes significantly.

"It is to my eternal regret that a subsequent commission did not abide
by this promise made to the people." -- Floyd J. Skidmore

FJ spoke from personal experience when he discussed rapidly-increasing labor costs in public project construction. 
(Battle Creek Enquirer & News)

In 1967, after two terms on the commission, a tired and slightly jaded Floyd Skidmore announced that he would not run for a third term. He had been active in public service for fifty years, and never lost an election.  
(Battle Creek Enquirer & News)

FJ's stepping aside from the commission alerted many in the community that it was time to recognize him for his lifelong contributions to their organizations, and to the city of Battle Creek.

 

(Click on text to enlarge)

"I think it is necessary to achieve ... and enjoy one's later years." -- Floyd J. Skidmore

 
Jennie and FJ with their great-grandchildren

Radio legend Paul Harvey helped FJ and Jennie celebrate their 68th wedding anniversary by announcing it on his national noontime radio show. 

The Battle Creek Enquirer & News paid a visit to FJ and Jennie on his 87th birthday, March 22, 1971. Reporter Art Middleton sat down with them in their living room and talked about a lifetime of personal achievement and public service. 

FJ's was a classic Horatio Alger story; of trial and tribulation, of ambition, of hard work ... of a self-made man. It was also a story of service to others and his community. Most of all, it was a story of lifelong love and commitment to his wife.

The newspaper photographer took a picture of FJ and Jennie as they prepared to play a tuba/organ duet for their guests.

Could it get any better than that?



Passing The Torch

Early in September of 1971, Jennie was at home making their beds when she suffered a massive stroke. She never regained consciousness and died twelve days later at Community Hospital. FJ was devastated by the loss.

Less than two months later, while on his 56th annual upper peninsula hunting trip, FJ suffered a heart attack while walking in the woods near Watersmeet. He was rushed to the nearest hospital, in Eagle River, Wisconsin, where he passed away. Many people thought he died of a broken heart.
 

Among the multitude of tributes, perhaps the most notable was a special page printed by the Battle Creek Enquirer & News.




FJ's loss left an inevitable hole in the business, even though Skid had already been handling operations very capably for some time. He continued to press on, despite serious economic head-winds.


Battle Creek was in its descent. The cereal boom was over. Construction labor costs, driven by powerful unions, made project bidding a risky proposition. Many businesses were either closing or moving to more fertile economic ground out of state.

Skid knew what his circumstances were. His job was to prune the business in order to keep it viable. The coal and wood operations were sold off in 1969, and Skid began talking with investor groups interested in buying his land. 

(Battle Creek Enquirer & News)

The old Skidmore Construction offices and porte cochere were torn down, and the new office was downsized into the small annex.

  

The construction company was able to secure work, including a renovation of Willard Library, and two new church projects. But it was clear, however, that the bloom was off the rose.
(Battle Creek Enquirer & News)
Battle Creek Trinity Lutheran Church

Skid was pushing seventy years of age. He had fought the good fight and was ready to enjoy its rewards. He relished beating his friends at cribbage at the Athelstan Club. He continued to play golf competitively. He loved kidding around with his grandchildren. 

His wickedly-husky laugh was contagious ... and he laughed often.

His favorite place in the world was his huge green overstuffed leather chair in his den, where the shelves on the walls were loaded with pictures and trophies from victories past. He savored evenings sitting in that chair, smoking cigars and listening to Detroit Tiger baseball on the radio, while simultaneously watching other sports on television.  



He adored his wife, Vivian, who ran a tight ship at their glorious home at 260 Orchard Place. She was his anchor, protecting and supporting him in sports and at work.

  
260 Orchard Place
In 1979, Skid was approached by the Miller Foundation to sell all of the Skidmore-owned property (several acres) in the center of downtown Battle Creek, for the purpose of developing a multi-purpose arena, mall, and hotel complex. 

He knew it was time. He sold the land and never looked back. On that property was built the McCamly Place Mall, Stouffer's Hotel, and Kellogg Arena. A tall flagpole in front of the hotel precisely marks where Skid's office once stood.


Skid had no regrets. In fact, he was proud that his final act had such a beneficial impact on the city of Battle Creek. 

His retirement was spent enjoying time with family and friends, until a stroke in 1986 slowed him down. Three years later, on December 4, 1989, he suffered a fatal stroke at the age of 85.


Just before he passed away, Skid was asked to jot-down on a piece of paper what he thought were his greatest personal achievements. 

At the bottom he wrote, "I have had a very full life."


In 2008, Stanley Skidmore was inducted into the Battle Creek Central High School Hall of Fame.


Find-A-Grave - Stanley L. Skidmore


The Skidmore Legacy

The impact of Floyd and Stanley Skidmore on the city of Battle Creek, Michigan was enormous. Hundreds of buildings were built, most of which are still standing ... twenty churches, dozens of schools, libraries, post offices, banks, factories, apartments, courthouses, jails, gas stations, grocery and retail stores, museums, monuments, and countless private homes.

Fort Custer, Kelloggs, Post, Ralston-Purina, Clark Equipment, United Steel and Wire, Michigan Carton, Standard Oil, Texaco, Clark Oil, Enquirer & News, Battle Creek Gas Company, the WK Kellogg Foundation, the Veterans Administration, the Federal Center, and many other local businesses directly benefitted from their work.

Perhaps equally important were the personal contributions these two individuals made in public service and athletics that improved life in the community immeasurably.

They made Battle Creek, Michigan a much better place to live.


Sources:
Gloria J. (Skidmore) Olin
Gary B. Skidmore
Linda (Skidmore) Van Dis
Becky (Olin) McQuaid
Associated Press 
Battle Creek Enquirer & News
Benton Harbor News Palladium
Bloomington Pantagraph
Cincinnati Enquirer
Detroit Free Press
Escanaba Daily Press
Freeport News Journal
Harrisburg Telegraph
Hillsdale Daily News
Ironwood Daily Globe
Lima News
Marshall Evening Chronicle
Milwaukee Journal
Paw Paw Courier Northerner
University of Michigan/Michigan Alumnus
Bentley Historical Library/University of Michigan
Battle Creek Central High School
Sentry Insurance Company
US News & World Report
Ancestry.com
Genealogy.com
Kalamazoogenealogy.org
Willard Library
U.S. Federal Census Data
Michigan Death Index
Wikipedia
Google
Find-A-Grave