Stewart Neale Collenberg Jr.

COLLENBERG Stewart Neale Collenberg, Jr., 66, known to all as Skip, died Monday of an apparent heart attack while doing his life's work, trimming a tree for a friend. Skip was a force of nature, a Southern gentleman to the core, with an engaging personality, a way with words, a true silver-tongue devil with a twinkle in the most beautiful blue eyes who charmed all he met. He was full of life and joy, quick to smile and always had a story to share. A native New Orleanian, he grew up on the banks of the Mississippi at Derbigny Plantation and Uptown. He attended Newman School, was a graduate of Tulane University and a member of the Band of Brothers, Delta Kappa Epsilon. While serving in the US Air Force in air crash rescue, he developed his lifelong fascination with fire engines to the point that later in life he came home from an auction with a 1955 Mack fire truck which soon became a party wagon and parade fixture. Skip loved the outdoors thus his career as an arborist, landscape contractor, nurseryman and the proprietor of A Cut Above Tree Service and Down to Earth Nursery. Among his many clients were Tulane University, the City of New Orleans, the McIlhenny family, Lakewood and New Orleans Country Clubs, and Stewart Enterprises, particularly Metairie Cemetery. Skip was among the first people back in the city after Katrina to help reopen the cemetery to bury the dead. It will now be his final resting place. Among his passions were the River Road plantations, antiques, particularly old tools and Audubon prints, live oak trees, tennis, dancing and sailing. He started his beloved daughter Lee in tennis at an early age with the help of his instructor, Nehemiah Atkinson. He was a member of the Chamale Senior Men's Tennis Club that won the Louisiana state championship on several occasions. He learned to dance at Miggie's and always cut quite a figure on the dance floor. Skip learned to sail while spending summers in Squirrel Island, Maine, and honed that skill on the Gulf Coast. He was a member of the Bay Waveland Yacht Club. His parents were Stewart Collenberg, Sr., and Sandra Rydstrom. His stories continue as he is survived by the love of his life and companion of 30 years, his wife Anita Warner, his beloved daughter, Lee, sister Margi Levy and his twin Susie Matthews, his step mother, Elaine Collenberg, godchild, Abbegayle Morrow, six step siblings, and countless friends. Visitation and services will be at Trinity Episcopal Church in NOLA on Friday, June 24. Visitation will be at 10 in the Board Room in the undercroft and the memorial service will be at 11 in the Chapel. There will be a reception in the Parish House following the service. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to The Skip Collenberg Memorial Tree Fund, c/o Robert Beckman, Metairie Cemetery, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd., New Orleans, LA 70124. We will gather in the Rigolets on the shrimp boat Captain Pooh Bear II at 7pm to celebrate Skip's life and love of the water. Join us. To view and sign the Family Guest Book, go to www.lakelawnmetairie.com.