Lynell Skarda

Lynell Griffith Skarda, 97, of Clovis, died Sunday, September 2, 2012, at home.
He was born on August 28, 1915, in Clovis, NM. He lived with his mother in Long
Beach, CA, during the school year and spent summers with his father, A.W. Skarda in
Clovis living at the Hotel Clovis, where he worked as a bellhop. He graduated in three
and one half years from Long Beach Polytechnic High School, CA, in 1933, just before
the Long Beach earthquake. A champion swimmer, Lynell came close to going to
Annapolis, but he lacked 2020 vision. He went to the University of California, Berkeley,
graduating a semester early with a Bachelor of Science in chemistry. Wanting to take
Chinese as an undergraduate, Lynell went to the Dean for permission and was told,
Well, Skarda, if you take Chinese you wont be in the College of Chemistry.

After a brief stint at Standard Oil, Lynell went to Washington Lee Law School
in Lexington, VA., where he made the Law Review in 194041. Both of his brothers, the
olderLangdon Lamar, and the youngerCash Taylor, also got law degrees from W L. With what is now called a Doctor of Jurisprudence, Lynell clerked for Federal Judge Sam Bratton in Albuquerque and then established his own practice of law until World War II. Enlisting like many men of his day, Lynell served the Army Air Corps as a
Captain, earning a commendation ribbon in 194546 from the Military Affairs Division
of the office of the Judge Advocate General in Washington, DC. Court martials were
never easy, he recalled, but someone had to do them. He returned to Clovis in 1946 after
his military service.

Early in his career, he served as District Attorney for the 9th Judicial District of
New Mexico he ran for and was defeated in a bid for the Supreme Court in 1952, a loss
he came to appreciate as his legal practice expanded and as he assumed serious
responsibilities as the lawyer for the Citizens Bank of Clovis, founded in 1916 as Farmers
State Bank of Clovis in 1920, where his father became bank president. In 1954 he was
admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States he won his case, Moore v.
Meads Fine Bread Co. On his letterhead Lynell had printed, Attorney and Counselor,
for he was truly a valuable adviser to many, young and old, over his long years as a
lawyer and banker his office was always over the bank, a situation that is metaphoric.
For six years, Lynell served on the Civil Committee writing the Uniform Jury
Instructions UJI for the State of New Mexico Supreme Court. He was secretary, always getting out the minutes immediately and efficiently, thanks to his excellent legal secretary Lucile Laughlin who worked many a Sunday after the Friday Saturday meetings in Albuquerque. He was honored for his Outstanding Service to the Judiciary by the Supreme Court in 1982.

In the early 1970s, Lynell took up flying, a hobby his wife Kathryn Burns Skarda
regarded as suicidal she preferred him sculpting at home. His pilots license was the
first time he could specify white as the color of his hair. Flying himself back and forth
to Albuquerque or Santa Fe in 21 CB thats Charlie Bravo for Citizens Bank expedited his work on the
UJ I and other appeals necessitated by his flourishing legal practice. He was instrument rated in 1973. Flying didnt get in the way of his golf game he looked always for the secret to the perfect swing, practicing it in the backyard, on the driving range, and on courses throughout the country.

He traveled a good bit in the 1980s, going first to Alaska including Pt. Barrow
and Prudhoe Bay, then down the Amazon River to the Lesser Antilles, to Italy for a long
sojourn, to Scandinavia on a maiden cruise, and on a fiftieth wedding anniversary cruise
at Christmastime in 1989 from Malta to Madeira to Northern Africa and Spain. Seeing
the world literally expanded his horizons and committed him still more to being a citizen
of the world.

In 2000 Lynell G. Skarda joined the Roman Catholic Church at Sacred Heart
Parish in Clovis. His confirmation name was Thomas Aquinas. Immediately he
researched and drafted two papers on the sex abuse cases that riddled New Mexico in the
1990s and the country some while thereafter. Nothing interesting eluded him, and he
shared his knowledge with his pastor, archbishop, president of the U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops, and even with Cardinal Ratzinger, then head of the Congregation for
the Doctrine of the Faith and now Pope Benedict XVI. Im old, he said. I can send
letters and documents to whomever I wish. He took seriously the injunction to St.
Francis to rebuild the church, investing lavishly in the plant of the local parish. His last
gift was new handmade doors, following on improvements to the church building, pews
and carpet, and easy maintenance landscaping. From the archdiocese, he received the St.
Francis of Assisi Award in 2010 for his farsighted improvements and for starting what
he deemed something good.

In the anniversary video of the Clovis News Journal, Lynell G. Skarda is
something of a star. He explains why Clovis is a good place to live and workgood
hospital and medical care, thriving economy, and expanding opportunities for education
through the Clovis Community College.

Lynell G. Skarda is survived by his son Jeffrey J. Skarda, J.D., of Houston, TX
and his daughter Patricia L.Skarda, Ph.D., of Northampton, MA. He has eight
grandchildren: born to Jeff Tom, Jennifer, and Loren, to the late Katrina Skarda Green
of Colorado Springs, CO Evan, Katlin, and Hannah, and to the late Gregory A.F.
Skarda of Clovis Eric and Erin. He has two greatgrandsons, Henry Nathaniel McCann
IV, born to Jennifer and Gregory Ryder Skarda, bom to Eric.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Skarda Scholarship
Fund, Clovis Community College CCC Foundation, 417 Schepps Blvd., Clovis, NM
88101.

Father Carlos Chavez will officiate at the Mass of Christian Burial at Sacred
Heart Church, Saturday, September 8, 2012 at 10 a.m.

Cremation has taken place.

Arrangements are under the care and direction of SteedTodd Funeral Home Crematory, 800 E. Manana Blvd. Clovis, New Mexico 575 7635541. You may also sign the online guest registry at www.steedtodd.com .

Photo courtesy of Debbie Rowley

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