Vivian E Skebe

She was born in Cleveland, Ohio on August 4, 1922 to parents Rudolph J Gerbitz and Sarah V Baczkowski.

She was predeceased in 2013 by Robert M. Skebe, her devoted husband of 66 years, brothers, Edward Gerbitz and Rudolph D Gerbitz, and sister, Almira Gerbitz. Her surviving children are Bonnie Skebe Dorn and Susan Skebe of Tampa, Florida, Robert M. Skebe Jr (Cheryl) of Woodstock Georgia, and Christopher Skebe of Naples, Florida.

Vivian graduated Collinwood High School in 1940, completed a business course at Dyke College of Commerce in 1941, and began her career as an executive assistant at Willard Storage and Battery in Cleveland, Ohio. During the years of WWII, Vivian was a trained volunteer in the United States Citizens Defense Corps. One of her duties was to walk through her East Cleveland neighborhood at dusk reminding residents to turn off household lights so the city was not easily viewed from the air at night. She also sold War Bonds and made bandages for the soldiers overseas.

Upon his return from Europe at the end of WWII, Vivian fell in love with and then married the ‘boy-next-door’, Robert Skebe, in 1947. Over the next ten years, they welcomed four children. Once her children were all in school, Vivian resumed her work in executive positions, most notably as executive assistant to the head of the Speech and Hearing Department at Case Western Reserve University. In 1975 she and her husband relocated to Naples, Florida where Vivian worked as the executive assistant to the superintendent of Collier County Schools until 1986. For several years, she served in the Collier County Guardian Ad Litem program as a legal advocate for children.

Upon their retirement in the late 80’s Robert and Vivian traveled the world together, enjoyed their growing family of three grandchildren and eventually five great-grandchildren, socialized with friends and YMCA buddies, and lived a beautiful life in their home on a lake in Bonita Springs, Florida.

From 2021 to 2024, Vivian lived at Holbrook Assisted Living in Woodstock Georgia, where she was an inspiration to residents and staff alike as to how to live into your 100’s with vitality, exuberance, and style. Known for her artistic flair, kind regard for others, perpetual interest in life, and her always present string of pearls, she will be remembered and dearly missed.