Norbert William “Skip” Skaja, MD weighed anchor and set sail for ports unknown on June 23, 2017. Skip grew up in Chicago, joined the Navy to fight in WWII, then went to college and earned his MD.  During his life, he called many ports home.  He taught psychiatry at FSU in Tallahassee and at UF in Gainesville.  Skip left teaching and opened his practice in Fort Lauderdale, raising his family there.  He was recognized many times for his achievements, even serving as President of the Florida Psychiatric Society, before retiring.  He spent his last years in Gainesville, Florida and the surrounding area.  He started sailing on Lake Michigan as a teenager and never lost his love for the water.

He is preceded in death by his wife, Anita, and his parents, Stanislaus and Helen. He is survived by his son, John Skaja (Dani), his daughter, Anne Skaja Robinson (Cliff), four grandchildren (Brenna, Katherine, Jay, and Dawn), three great-grandchildren, friends and family.  There will be a small graveside service at Alamance Memorial Park in Burlington, NC, on June 30, 2017 at 11am.

Funeral arrangements are under the care of Forest Meadows Funeral Home, Gainesville, FL, and Rich & Thompson Funeral Home,

“I want it said of me by those who knew me that I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow.” – Abraham Lincoln