Ralph Skolnick Obituary

Skolnick, Ralph of Baldwinsville, New York, died at 87 years of age, on March 30 after a brief illness. Ralph was born in 1921 in Chicago to Morris and Sarah Skolnik, immigrants from Pinsk, in what is now Belarus. He graduated from Chicago's Marshall High School in 1939 where he was the captain of the basketball team and well-known for his left-handed hook shot and the accuracy of his underhanded free throws. Ralph enlisted in the US Navy in 1942 and served as a signalman until the end of World War II, primarily on the USS Susan B. Anthony. He participated in the war in Europe, including the Normandy invasion, and the war in the Pacific. He was a furrier for some time after the war and later worked as a buyer for a discount chain in Dayton, Ohio and as the chief housewares buyer for Fay's Drug's, a chain based in Syracuse, New York. After his retirement from Fay's, he worked until he was 85 years of age in a number of sales positions, including at various May Company stores in northern Virginia and in Syracuse, New York. In his last years with the May Company stores, he was one of the oldest company employees. Ralph is survived by his wife of 63 years, Shirley Skolnik, his daughter Sharon Flagel of Middletown, Ohio, his son Richard Skolnik, of Reston, Virginia, and his daughter Marcia Miller, of Rochester, New York. He is also survived by nine grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be held 1:00 p.m., Tuesday, at Piser Funeral Services, 9200 N. Skokie Blvd., Skokie, IL (at Church St.). Interment Memorial Park Cemetery. The family has requested that donations in Ralph's memory be made to Francis House, 108 Michaels Avenue, Syracuse, New York 13208. Funeral info 847-679-4740.