Search Results

SKARDA -- LYNELL GRIFFITH Age 97, of Clovis, NM died Sunday, September 2, 2012, at home. He was born on August 28, 1915, in Clovis, NM. He lived with his mother in Long Beach, CA, during the school year and spent the summers with his father, A.W. Skarda in Clovis living at the Hotel Clovis, where he worked as a bellhop. He graduated in three and one half years from Long Beach Polytechnic High School, CA, in 1933, just before the Long Beach earthquake. A champion swimmer, Lynell came close to going to Annapolis, but he lacked 20/20 vision. He went the University of California, Berkeley, graduating a semester early with a Bachelor of Science in chemistry. Wanting to take Chinese as an undergraduate, Lynell went to the Dean for permission and was told, "Well, Skarda, if you take Chinese you won't be in the College of Chemistry." After a brief stint at Standard Oil, Lynell went to Washington & Lee Law School in Lexington, VA., where he made the Law Review in 1940-41. Both of his brothers, the older--Langdon Lamar, and the younger-Cash Taylor, also got law degrees from W & L. With what is now called a Doctor of Jurisprudence, Lynell clerked for Federal Judge Sam Bratton in Albuquerque and then established his own practice of law until World War II. Enlisting like many men of his day, Lynell served the Army Air Corps as a Captain, earning a commendation ribbon in 1945-46 from the Military Affairs Division of the office of the Judge Advocate General in Washington, DC. Court martials were never easy, he recalled, but someone had to do them. He returned to Clovis in 1946 after his military service. Early in his career, he served as District Attorney for the 9th Judicial District of New Mexico; he ran for and was defeated in a bid for the Supreme Court in 1952, a loss he came to appreciate as his legal practice expanded and as he assumed serious responsibilities as the lawyer for the Citizens Bank of Clovis, founded in 1916 as Farmers State Bank of Clovis in 1920, where his father became bank president. In 1954 he was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States; he won his case, Moore v. Mead's Fine Bread Co. On his letterhead Lynell had printed, "Attorney and Counselor," for he was truly a valuable adviser to many, young and old, over his long years as a lawyer and banker; his office was always over the bank, a situation that is metaphoric. For six years, Lynell served on the Civil Committee writing the Uniform Jury Instructions (UJI) for the State of New Mexico Supreme Court. He was secretary, always getting out the minutes immediately and efficiently, thanks to his excellent legal secretary Lucile Laughlin who worked many a Sunday after the Friday/ Saturday meetings in Albuquerque. He was honored for his Outstanding Service to the Judiciary by the Supreme Court in 1982. In the early 1970s, Lynell took up flying, a hobby his wife Kathryn Burns Skarda regarded as suicidal (she preferred him sculpting at home). His pilot's license was the first time he could specify "white" as the color of his hair. Flying himself back and forth to Albuquerque or Santa Fe in 21 CB (that's Charlie Bravo) expedited his work on the UJ I and other appeals necessitated by his flourishing legal practice. He was instrument rated in 1973. Flying didn't get in the way of his golf game; he looked always for the "secret" to the perfect swing, practicing it in the backyard, on the driving range, and on courses throughout the country. He traveled a good bit in the 1980s, going first to Alaska (including Pt. Barrow and Prudhoe Bay), then down the Amazon River to the Lesser Antilles, to Italy for a long sojourn, to Scandinavia on a maiden cruise, and on a fiftieth wedding anniversary cruise at Christmastime in 1989 from Malta to Madeira to Northern Africa and Spain. Seeing the world literally expanded his horizons and committed him still more to being a citizen of the world. In 2000 Lynell G. Skarda joined the Roman Catholic Church at Sacred Heart Parish in Clovis. His confirmation name was Thomas Aquinas. Immediately he researched and drafted two papers on the sex abuse cases that riddled New Mexico in the 1990s and the country some while thereafter. Nothing interesting eluded him, and he shared his knowledge with his pastor, archbishop, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and even with Cardinal Ratzinger, then head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and now Pope Benedict XVI. "I'm old," he said. I can send letters and documents to whomever I wish." He took seriously the injunction to St. Francis "to rebuild the church," investing lavishly in the plant of the local parish. His last gift was new handmade doors, following on improvements to the church building, pews and carpet, and easy maintenance landscaping. From the archdiocese, he received the St. Francis of Assisi Award in 2010 for his far-sighted improvements and for starting what he deemed "something good." In the anniversary video of the Clovis News Journal, Lynell G. Skarda is something of a star. He explains why Clovis is a good place to live and work-good hospital and medical care, thriving economy, and expanding opportunities for education through the Clovis Community College. Lynell G. Skarda is survived by his son Jeffrey J. Skarda, J.D., of Houston, TX and his daughter Patricia L.Skarda, Ph.D., of Northampton, MA. He has eight grandchildren: born to Jeff (Tom, Jennifer, and Loren), to the late Katrina Skarda Green of Colorado Springs, CO (Evan, Katlin, and Hannah), and to the late Gregory A.F. Skarda of Clovis (Eric and Erin). He has two great-grandsons, Henry Nathaniel McCann IV, born to Jennifer and Gregory Ryder Skarda, born to Eric. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Skarda Scholarship Fund, Clovis Community College (CCC Foundation), 417 Schepps Blvd., Clovis, NM 88101. Father Carlos Chavez will officiate at the Mass of Christian Burial at Sacred Heart Church, Saturday, September 8, 2012 at 10 a.m. Cremation has taken place. Arrangements are under the care and direction of Steed-Todd Funeral Home & Crematory, 800 E. Manana Blvd. Clovis, New Mexico (575) 763-5541. You may also sign the online guest registry at: www.steedtodd.com
        Published on: Fri September 07, 2012