Sherwin Clyburn Skidmore

We were given explicit instructions not to post her birth date so here we go. You can do the math later in this obituary.

Eccentric would be an understatement to describe dearly departed Sherwin Skidmore. She died peacefully at the Dermott City Nursing Home where the staff took outstanding care of her, and it is where she celebrated her 99th birthday last month. She was preceded in death by her parents, Gertrude and Andrew Clyburn and her four siblings, Jean Kaplan; Billy Clyburn; Jimmie Jones; and Edwina Simonette. Her heart was broken when her sister Jean passed away in Gretna, La., in 1975, and then again when her beloved husband, Robert John Skidmore, whom she affectionately called “My Robert John,” died in 1997 in Springfield, La., after nearly 30 years of marriage. She quickly moved to Dermott, Ark. to be near her niece Sherry Gibson. She had no medical history whatsoever (except for a couple of all-important cosmetic procedures), therefore the physicians at Baptist Health in Little Rock, Ark. were quite impressed with her resolve, all 81 pounds of her, after a partial hip replacement in March 2022. If it weren’t for her caretaker, Deborah Porter, of Dermott, Sherwin wouldn’t have lived as long as she did. Deborah lovingly tended to Sherwin, working seven days a week, and feeding her twice a day delicious home-cooked meals while Sherwin still lived at home and sitting with her every day since Sherwin entered the nursing home after her hip replacement. Sherwin loved Deborah so much as did all of Sherwin’s survivors. That list includes: her sister Jean’s only daughter, Lisa Fischer and her husband, Kris, who liked to talk cars and conservative politics with her of Little Rock, Ark.; Bob’s children she loved as her own including Sarah Skidmore McNamee of Stow, Ohio; David Skidmore (Dennis Augusto Gaviria) of Indianapolis, Ind.; Nancy Skidmore Wilson (Larry) of Houston, Texas; Barbara Pezzoni (Mike) of Spokane, Wash.; cherished granddaughter, Christy Beard (Brent) of Albany, La.; nephew K.C. Jones (Stacy) of Little Rock, Ark., Sylvia Hidalgo of Gretna, La.;  Nick Simonette (Suzanne) of Weaverville, N.C.; Greg Clyburn of Pelham, Al.;  Marshall Clyburn of Metairie, La.; Forrest Johnson Jr. (Cynthia Partin) of  Gladewater, Texas; Shelley Johnson of  Wills Point, Texas; and Vernon Traxler (Joanne) of Austin, Texas. 

Sherwin was quite the world traveler as Bob’s (My Robert John) job as an engineer, who worked in the tire industry, took them to Akron, Ohio; Atlanta, Ga.; Springfield and Baton Rouge, La.; Houston, Texas; and Paris and Le Havre, France. It was in Paris that Sherwin came alive. After seven years in the “City of Light,” she returned to the States but always yearned for Parisian culture and delicious European food. No one could pinch a penny like Sherwin, and besides saving used tin foil, she’d wash out a Ziplock bag to reuse and bring out frozen leftovers a year or two after freezing. 

Sherwin was a voracious reader. But her great love was the University of Texas and made an offer to her relatives that if anyone were academically blessed to be accepted into UT, she would have paid their way.  There were no takers, but all ribbed her for her loyalty to the Longhorns. She even chose her epitaph for her tombstone to include “Hook ‘Em Horns.” 

Sherwin was born in Philadelphia, Miss., but moved to New Orleans  in her late teens where she and sister Jean had the best time as two single gals in the 1940s. Sherwin married several times, and we aren’t sure of all of her former husbands’ names, but her favorite was the man she married in 1968.

She constantly provided sage advice with things like, “always date younger men” and “do yoga in the nude.” 

Sherwin chose a Ray Charles’ version of "America the Beautiful" to be played at some type of gathering which will be mutually agreeable with the surviving relatives. She probably wanted a reading of the Bill of Rights, too, but never made that request verbally. She was a loyal American who fiercely loved her country along with being an original Ditto Head (a la Rush Limbaugh fan) from the early days of his syndicated career in 1988.

Services will be held privately. Sherwin will be laid to rest with her husband at Carter Cemetery in Springfield, Louisiana.

Arrangements entrusted to Harry McKneely & Son Funeral Home of Hammond and Ponchatoula. An on-line guest book is available at www.harrymckneely.com.