Dean Swift Skillman Sr.

1941 - 2022

News story
By Mike Sigov
Blade Staff Writer

Dean Swift Skillman, Sr., an entrepreneur and philanthropist from Lambertville, died Friday in Kingston Care Center of Sylvania. He was 81.

He died of apparent heart failure, his son Dean Skillman, Jr., said.

"He was a fun loving guy, a loyal friend, and a very good businessman – very good with math and loyal to the people that worked for him. And he had their respect," Gary Sliemers, a friend and a former business partner, said.

For over 40 years up to his passing, the elder Mr. Skillman owned and operated multiple mobile-home parks, mostly in Ohio and some in Michigan. The former include Parklane Mobile Plaza on Lewis Avenue, Shamrock on Alexis Road, and Woodlake Mobile Home Park in Millbury, Ohio.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, he also owned and operated a Hoster brewpub in The Docks complex in International Park and a share of another Hoster location in Columbus. Mr. Skillman told The Blade in 2000 he hoped the local brewpub would help The Docks duplicate the success of Cleveland's celebrated Flats entertainment district.

He subsequently converted the Toledo location into Gumbo's, a New Orleans-style cajun restaurant that he and his partner, Tom Cousino, ran for about three years during the mid-2000s before Mr. Skillman left the restaurant business to focus on commercial real estate.

During the 1980s, he co-owned on Secor Road a Whirlyball facility, a game resembling lacrosse and jai alai in which customers formed teams and rode in small electric bumper cars while advancing a ball toward a goal. Mr. Skillman was the one who brought that game to Toledo, his son said.

His ventures at that time also included part ownership of a local chain of video stores that was later bought out by Blockbuster Video.

Over the years, Dean Skillman, Sr. also donated to multiple charities and was very discreet about it, never disclosing to which, his son said.

Dean Skillman, Jr., said his father was a true entrepreneur.

"He never worked for anybody. He was his own boss his whole life. It came natural to him. He was good at it," his son said, adding that his father was fun-loving and very generous with his time and money.

"He never ran away from a good time," the younger Mr. Skillman said.

Born April 16, 1941 in Philadelphia to Shirley and Thomas Skillman, Jr., Mr. Skillman was raised in suburban Narberth, Pa., and graduated in 1959 from Lower Merion High School in neighboring Ardmore.

He received an associate's degree in business from Roanoke College in Salem, Va., in the early 1960s, then enlisted in the Army a short time before he was to be drafted and served stateside until his honorable discharge in 1962.

In 1963 he moved to Toledo to open a Dy-Dee diaper service, which he owned for about four years until moving into the commercial real-estate business.

In his free time, he enjoyed outdoor recreation with family and friends and attending sporting events. He was an avid University of Michigan football fan.

In the 2000s, he also spent time training his yellow Labrador Wylie, a competitive dock jumper. Mr. Skillman took the dog to national competitions, including the 2005 Purina Incredible Dog Challenge event just outside St. Louis, an event Wylie won with the longest jump off a 40-foot dock and into a swimming pool.

"It's an absolute blast," Mr. Skillman told The Blade in 2006 about taking his dog to such events. "There are a lot of good people you meet out there. Anyone who travels 500 miles just to let their dog jump in the pool – how bad can they be?"

Mr. Skillman was a longtime member of the Toledo Club, the Maumee River Yacht Club, and the Toledo JayCees.

Surviving are his sons, Dean Skillman, Jr., Jeffrey Skillman, and Jason Heldt; sister, Sara Jehle; brothers, Thomas Skillman III and David Skillman, and two grandchildren.

A Celebration of Life ceremony will be held at a later date to be determined. Arrangements are by Walker Funeral Home.

The family suggests tributes to Project Hope Animal Rescue, Coldwater, Mich., or a charity of the donor's choice.