Cecil Skipper

Cecil Lee Skipper was born on October 7, 1939, to Evie Lee Wilkins Skipper and Cecil Thomas “Tuffy” Skipper in Nacogdoches, Texas. After Tuffy was killed in an industrial accident in 1942, Evie Lee and her two sons, Richard and Cecil, moved to Pasadena, Texas, to be close to Evie Lee’s sisters, Bessie, Hoyte, and Gloyce. Together they opened a restaurant called the Four Sisters Café. It was there that Evie Lee met Lee Ardell - “Grandpa.” They were engaged and married once Lee returned from an overseas work assignment. After a summer-long honeymoon with the boys in Wisconsin, the family relocated to McGregor, Texas, in 1950.

Cecil grew up hunting, fishing, and playing baseball in McGregor. Lee Ardell was instrumental in starting Little League, building the first Little League baseball field in town. Cecil excelled at the sport, and it became his passion. He graduated from McGregor High School in 1958. Cecil was a four-year letterman in Football and Basketball, and was a member of the Bulldog Basketball team that played in the State Finals game in 1957. He continued to play baseball in High School with any league in the area that he could find because there was no High School baseball program in McGregor at the time.

After graduation, Cecil enrolled at Texas Christian University and walked on to the baseball team. After hitting two home runs in the first Freshman game against SMU, the coach “found him a jersey” (and a scholarship). He started at First Base for the Horned Frogs for three years and coached the Freshman baseball team with his close friend, Buddy Iles, in his last year. While at Texas Christian, Cecil was also active in the Army ROTC and was a broadcast booth spotter for the legendary sports broadcaster Kern Tipps. Cecil played summer baseball in Kansas, and he would always tell us how he once “grounded out to second” against the Hall of Fame pitcher, Satchel Paige. He was drafted by the Washington Senators, but he had committed to the U.S. Army and received his commission on the day he graduated from TCU.

After serving 2 years of active duty, Cecil returned to Central Texas and worked at Naler Insurance in McGregor and at the Texas Department of Transportation in College Station for short periods. In 1967, he began his three-decade-long teaching and coaching career. His first assignment was as head football coach, Science and Chemistry teacher at Lorena High School. Following that, he was an assistant coach, Science, and Chemistry teacher at Moody High School, Robinson High School, and finally McGregor High School, retiring in 2001.

Cecil remained very active, serving in the Mill Creek Country Club Men’s Golf Association and playing golf almost daily. He eventually served as President of the MGA, carried a single-digit handicap, and shot his age many times. He also hunted and fished as much as he could with his good friends and family.

On September 25th, Cecil passed away, surrounded by family, after a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease. He is survived by his wife, Oneida Skipper; brothers, Richard Skipper and Arnie Ardell; sons, Kyle and Lee Skipper; daughter, Zane Fry; grandsons, Braxton Skipper, Samuel Skipper, and Luke Skipper; and great-grandson, Thad Skipper.

Services will be held at the First Methodist Church in McGregor on October 7th at 2 p.m. Reception and visitation will follow at the Bammie Moore Hall in Downtown Moody from 4-8 p.m.

All are welcome…