Leland Skabo, 80, Dickinson, died Saturday, May 24, 2014 at St. Joseph’s Hospital & Health Center, Dickinson. Leland’s funeral service will be at 10:30 a.m., Thursday, May 29, 2014 at the United Methodist Church, Dickinson, with Rev. Dan Freed officiating. Interment will take place at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery, Mandan. Military honors will be provided by the Dickinson Honors Team following the service. Visitation will be on Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Ladbury Funeral Service, Dickinson, and will continue at the church on Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Leland Delano Skabo was born at Ambrose, October 4, 1933, to Nels and Myrtle (Bloom) Skabo. He was an identical twin and grew up in Crosby, graduating from Crosby High School. He attended Concordia College for a year, and then transferred to Minot State Teachers College. After a year there, he gave up on college. Upon hearing of that, his mother told him, “Well, you aren’t going to live here.” And so he joined the US Navy. He served in the Navy from 1953 to 1957. The highlight of his service was visiting Antarctica.
After the Navy, he returned to school and graduated from Minot State with a Bachelor’s in Education. He met his future wife, Joan Scharnowske while playing in the school band at Minot State. He was honored to serve as the drum major for the marching band. Leland and Joan were married June 1, 1961. They had two children, Jay and Paula.
He later graduated from the University of North Dakota with Masters and Doctorate degrees in Business Education. Leland entered the college teaching profession with brief stints at Mayville, Ellendale, and Eau Claire, Wis. He moved to Dickinson in 1970 as a professor in the Dickinson State College business school, retiring in 1994.
Leland was active in the community. He served many years as the treasurer of the Methodist Men’s club. He served as president of the Kiwanis Club and won the Builders Award for his dedicated service. He was the president and long-time treasurer of the Elks Sodbuster Band. He served as a charter member of the North Dakota Board of Examiners on Audiology and Speech Pathology as the Consumer Representative, due to being a parent of a hard-of-hearing child, his daughter Paula.
Leland enjoyed many activities with friends and family. He bowled most of his life, and won several city championships as well as a state title. He enjoyed hunting, fishing and spending time at Lake Tschida. But, mostly he was known for being the nicest, kindest person most people ever met.
Leland was preceded in death by daughter Paula Hartze; his parents, Nels and Myrtle; and brothers-in-law, Jim Scharnowske, Ray Scharnowske and Bruce Meland. He is survived by his wife Joan; son Jay (Linda), Bismarck; grandchildren Jacob Potter and Will Skabo; and brother Lowell (Verna); and his sister-in-law Kay Meland.
The Skabo family prefers memorials to a yet established memorial in Leland’s name.
