Gerald Earl Skislak

November 5, 1949 to December 22, 2021

Gerald Earl Skislak, age 72, of Pleasant Garden, North Carolina, passed away at his residence on December 22, 2021. Gerald (Gerry) was born on November 5, 1949, in Alameda, California to parents William Joseph Skislak, a U.S. Navy Veteran (d.2001) and Mary Virginia Insley Skislak (d.1997).

As a child, Gerry spent time traveling wherever his father had been stationed with the U.S. Navy from 1949 to 1962. He spent the remainder of his youth in Casselberry, Florida, where he attended Lyman High School before volunteering to serve in the U.S. Army at the age of 17.

He attended army bootcamp at Fort Benning in Georgia graduating on August 23, 1968. He completed jump school and was assigned to active service at Fort Riley, Kansas before being deployed to Vietnam from April 1969 to March 1970 earning the Vietnam Service Medal, Air Medal, Vietnam Conduct Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge, Army Commendation Medal and Vietnam Cross of Gallantry. After returning home he was deployed abroad to Frankfurt, Germany and then to Homestead Airforce Base before retiring from service as a Staff Sargeant in September of 1976.

After his military service, Gerry obtained his Associates Degree and worked in the hospitality industry before settling in Pleasant Garden, North Carolina and becoming an owner operator of his own trucking company. He retired in 2003.

Gerry was an avid photographer, music lover and movie aficionado. He also enjoyed traveling and often spent time at the beach near Daytona, Florida and traveling through the Smoky Mountains. He was well known for his disarming wit and eccentric sense of style.

He is survived by his daughter, Jennifer Skislak Szaro, (Adam Szaro), stepdaughter, Michele Alonso and her family, his three grandchildren, Kaleb Szaro, Jonah Szaro and Wyatt Szaro as well as nine of his siblings: William J. Skislak II, Marta Mason, Larry Mason, Terry Skislak, Joseph Skislak, Toni Nolin, Kent Mason, Bobbie Mason Elliott, and Sandra Dee Skislak Burrell. He is preceded in death by his sister, Debra Ann Hibler (d.2013).

An online tribute page has been arranged through Hanes-Lineberry Funeral Home. A memorial to spread Gerry’s ashes will be held on March 13, 2022, in Daytona Beach Shores, Florida. More details will be posted on his tribute page and Facebook regarding time and location. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Wounded Warrior Project in his honor (https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/).