Allan "Skip" Craig Young

81, Noblesville (recently of Severna Park, MD), passed away May 1, 2014. He was born November 1, 1932, in Indianapolis to the late Dencil Adrian and Esther Frances Young. Skip graduated from Broad Ripple High School and later attended Butler University in Indianapolis, majoring in Pharmacology. Skip's college studies were interrupted by the Korean Conflict when he was drafted and served honorably in the U.S. Army Combat Engineers, most notably as a Senior Instructor in Bridge Construction at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

Skip's father was an avid fisherman, and frequently took his wife and son with him on fishing trips to Michigan and Minnesota. It was on one of these trips that he met the daughter of another obsessed angler who had "dragged her along" to their fishing camp on the family "vacation". Skip was immediately and forever smitten with Kathryn Carolyn (Kay) Young; ironically, another Indianapolis native and Broad Ripple Rocket, two years his junior who, to that point he had never met (although he would later admit he had seen in the halls and had thought was "out of his league"). He married the love of his life Kathryn C. "Kay" (Ward) Young, May 9, 1953 and raised six children (five boys and a girl). Skip said that he and Kay always planned to have eight children, but "ran out of energy after the first six". Kay passed away in 2010.

After leaving the military, Skip worked a number of jobs, often as many as three at a time, in order to support his growing family. He abandoned his early ambition to be a Pharmacist in order to study business accounting at night, and provide accounting services to a number of major trucking and technology firms. He became so adept in this field that he began teaching business administration and accounting between his own classes at the Central Indiana College of Business. Later, he moved into the infancy of the business computing world as a Systems Analyst with the U.S. Army Finance and Accounting Center at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis. Among his many accomplishments was his key role in implementing the first computerized payroll system for the reserve forces of the U.S. Army utilizing the brand new (at the time) IBM-360 computer system. In 1978 Skip moved to the east coast to work as a Senior Project Manager at the U.S. Naval Yard in Washington, D.C. and then at the Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland from which he retired in 1997.

When his boys were young, Skip found the time, somehow, to both coach and direct baseball activities for the Prentice Little League in Indianapolis. He was a coach, umpire, chief groundskeeper, and ultimately the President of the league. He also founded and helped build the field and infrastructure for the first Senior Little League team in the area, and coached that team as well. At the same time he volunteered as a Scoutmaster and Council Executive for the Central Indiana Boy Scouts of America organization. Skip and Kay were always a fixture in the stands cheering on their children at virtually every game.

After retirement Skip was finally able to indulge his passion full time for his lawn and gardens. He loved to mow the yard with one of his many grandchildren perched on his lap on his beloved old John Deere tractor. His Rain Garden and Coi pond were marvels. He and Kay also loved to patronize the local restaurants becoming known at dozens of Anne Arundel eateries on a first name basis and treated almost as local royalty. He and Kay even went so far as to learn basic Mandarin Chinese in order to honor one of their most beloved establishments by greeting the owners and sharing news in their native tongue.

Skip is survived by his six children, Richard (Sheila) Young, Ellicott City, MD, Lynn (Rick) Heckman, Carmel, IN, Scott (Debbie) Young, Atlanta, GA, Jay (Cheryl) Young, Indianapolis, IN, Robert Young, Round Rock, TX and Christopher (Diane) Young, Ellicott City, MD. He is also survived by his 16 grandchildren, Andrew (Bridget), Molly and Sarah Young, Owen Dresser, Allison and Kathryn Heckman, Courtney (John) Heckman Batykefer, Jessica, Justin (Cari) and Matthew Young, Rob and Kristen Young, Alexandra Weisand, Collin Young and Zian and Mason Young and nine great-grandchildren.

A celebration of life will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 7, 2014, at the Feeney-Hornak Keystone Mortuary, 2126 E. 71st Street, with calling from 5:00 p.m. until the service time at 7:00 p.m. A committal ceremony will be held on Friday, May 9, 2014, in Elkridge, MD.

Memorial contributions may be made to The KAY Foundation at www.RWYWardFinancial.com.