Nereida Skelton

Her core job was teaching English, but her true calling was journalism, public speaking and debate.

She taught public speaking and coached debate, spending many weekends driving her “teams” to tournaments around the state and chaperoning the restless teens.

Nereida particular took pride in the student newspapers she advised, often working with students late into the night.

“She was such a champion of her students,” remembers Matea Gold, a fomer editor-in-chief of the McClatchy Prospector who went on to become a political writer for the Los Angeles Times.

“She brought enthusiasm and wise counsel and incredible patience. I will always be grateful to her for showing me that it was possible to turn writing into a career. She was the true definition of a teacher.”

No one appreciated Nereida’s journalism advice more than her husband of 38 years, George Skelton, a political columnist for the Los Angeles Times. She was his secret editor and critiqued every column, right up until the end from her hospital bed.

Nereida savored family life, and especially her six grandchildren: Sean and Dante, Georgia and Noah, Frances and Annemarie, the children of stepdaughters Donna Aktas of Pleasanton, Sharon Skelton of Davis and Karen Skelton of Sacramento. Grandma, stepdaughters and grandkids enjoyed a very close and loving relationship.

Nereida was born in Milwaukee, Wis., May 16, 1944. She graduated from the University of Arizona in 1966 and immediately moved to Sacramento, teaching at Kennedy during the 1960s and 1970s, and at McClatchy from 1985 until her retirement in 2004.

She was a gourmet cook, enjoyed boating and fishing with her husband, marveled at migrating waterfowl and was an inveterate reader of mystery novels.

Nereida fought hard against breast and subsequent bone marrow cancer in recent years. She died June 1 from complications of pre-leukemia on the day she was scheduled to have a bone marrow transplant.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Sacramento Press Club for a Nereida Skelton Journalism Scholarship Fund: 1017 L Street #434, Sacramento, Ca. 95814.