Edith Shepherd Skadal's Obituary
Edith Shepherd Skadal passed away on Sunday, March 4th, at the U of U Medical Center. She died from complications after a fall at home. She would have been 82 this summer. Edith was born on July 2, l930 to Drucilla Peterson Sherpherd and William Earnest Shepherd in Levan, Utah. When she was a young child her father died and her mother remarried James Blackwell and they moved to Ogden, Utah. She completed her High School Education there and attended Beauty College for a period of time.
She met her husband Jack Eugene Skadal at the Ogden Bus Depot. He was in active military duty for the US Navy. They moved back and forth between Utah and Iowa where Jack's parents lived.
Edith and Jack had four children. Jack Eugene Skadal (preceded her in death), He married Shelly Roylance later divorced. Deborah Rachelle Skadal (married Michael David Butchereit, later divorced and married Kenneth Lee Black. Donald Kim Skadal, (married Twilia Joanne Burgess) and Darrell Dean Skadal (died in infancy). She had eight grandchildren: Jeremy, Joshua, Darrell, Danielle, Chelsey, Cailey, Colby, and Casey. She had eight great grandchildren. She had a very special relationship with her great grand daughter Mikayla. They were the best of buddies.
Edith was a beauty in her day. She was very petite and turned heads often. She had a beautiful head of hair and was full of spirit and caught a lot of attention because of it. Her favorite saying was, "I am free, white, and 21 and I will do what I please." She lived up to that saying until the day she died. She had a fierce will and determination that was always stronger than she was healthy.
She lost her husband at an early age from an accidental drowning. That single event changed her life in a profound way. She worked much of her life as a caregiver in Nursing homes and she was amazing with the love and care she gave to the elderly. She received that same care and loved the people who came to serve her at the end of her life. Later in life while she was raising her grandchildren Darrell and Danielle she started her career in child care. She served many families and fell in love with the children and their parents. As she aged she genuinely missed those associations.
Her favorite adventure was to eat out. She often paid the tab for anyone willing to go on that adventure with her even though she lived on a small budget. She was always on the move. She moved more often than most people buy automobiles. She loved change and rarely looked back after she moved. On to a new place and a new set of friends and associates. The longest she lived any where was in the Escalante Apts. where she made many friends and spent the last years of her life. The friends would organize pot luck luncheons and go to the Sizzler and Golden Corral together.
She had many health issues dating as far back as I can remember...some of those issues were never diagosed or understood until later in her life...they were a source of great pain and suffering for her. Her passing has definately sent her on to a better place.
She was a member of The Church of Latter-day Saints and loved her new Branch President and his sweet wife.
What’s your fondest memory of Edith?
What’s a lesson you learned from Edith?
Share a story where Edith's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Edith you’ll never forget.
How did Edith make you smile?