— FROSTBURG— Carl Donald Skidmore, 75, of Leesburg, Fla., formerly of Frostburg, passed away on Sunday, May 20, 2012, at his home in Leesburg, Fla., after a courageous five month battle with cancer.
Born June 23, 1936, in Frostburg, he was the son of Carl A. Skidmore and Agnes Finzel Skidmore, of Parkersburg Road, Frostburg.
He is survived by his wife of 30 years, LeEsta Blank Skidmore; his sisters Lois and husband John “Bro” Matese, of Parkersburg Road, Frostburg, and Sue Skidmore, of Tacoma Park. Carl was the father of eight children, Carl Donald Jr. and his wife Terry, of Jacksonville, Fla., Timothy and wife Tecora, of Spokane, Wash., Brenda and husband Patrick Ostinowsky, of Jacksonville, Fla., Tracie and husband Dana Plish, of St. Augustine, Fla., Kenneth and wife Dorothy, of Uba City, Calif., Dennis and wife Connie Martin, of LaVale, Deborah Bolt, of Buffalo Mills, Pa. and Larry Martin, of Buffalo Mills, Pa. Carl was the proud grandfather of 14, Jeffrey, Joseph, Ilea, Danielle, Jason, Andrew, Timothy, Dennis, Me-lissa, Tommy, Julie, Sarah, Holly, Carrie and great-grandfather of nine. He had numerous nieces and nephews. Carl held dear to his heart his four sisters-in-law, Shirley Atkinson, Donna Rosenberger, Brenda LePre, and Marsha Blank.
Carl graduated from Mount Savage High School in 1954. He was a Maryland State Trooper for 23 years and retired from Barrack C of LaVale in 1986. Carl was the co-founder of the Western Maryland Crime Scene Search Team with his dear friend, Bernie Zlomek. He later retired from Westvaco Paper Co., Luke, in 1998.
He was a member of Moose Lodge 348 in Frostburg and the American Legion Post 0024 Frostburg.
Carl served two years as police and fire commissioner for Frostburg.
After his retirement, Carl and his beloved “Babycakes” traveled the country together and lived out their dreams. Carl never met a stranger and had many, many friends throughout the United States.
He was cremated upon his request and services will be held in Frostburg, at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, the family is asking that we honor Carl’s love of children by sending all donations to The Big Hearts 4 Aaron Wickman (make donations payable to Aaron Wickman), c/o Huntington National Bank, 9100 Mentor Ave., Mentor, OH 44060.
Aaron is a little boy who has touched Carl’s big heart and any donations will go towards Aaron’s mounting medical expenses.